After a tough start to the 2026 season, Aaron Nola has seemed to turn things around with several solid outings in a row for the Philadelphia Phillies.
It has not been an easy couple of years for Nola as he has battled injuries and inconsistent performances since the start of the 2025 season. Recently, however, the right=hander has pitched much better for the club, allowing just four runs in 11 innings over the course of his last two starts.
Aaron Nola finding his footing at the right time for the Phillies
While the 33-year-old continues to give up the long ball at a high rate, his command has been excellent recently. He has now gone three consecutive starts without allowing a walk for only the fourth time in his major league career. His ERA has dipped from a season peak of 6.04 to 5.55 over that span, a possible sign that he has found his groove heading into the summer months.
It appears that his resurgence could be thanks in large part to the fact that he has been mixing up his pitches. After struggling with his fastball early on, Nola has scaled back his usage on the pitch, relying more on the knuckle curve and sinkers in his arsenal.Â
Nola has spent the last 12 seasons with the Phillies and was one of the cornerstones during the team’s rebuilding years. During his first six seasons in Philadelphia, he was one of the better pitchers in baseball, pitching to a 58-40 record to go along with a 3.47 ERA and 922 strikeouts in 139 starts. Since 2021, though, Nola has only a 54-53 record with a 4.27 ERA and 1,018 strikeouts in 158 games. This includes his two recent years where he has given up 101 runs in 156 innings for a 5.83 ERA.
If Nola can continue to settle in, this would be a huge boost to a Phillies rotation that has otherwise been elite so far this season. Since Zack Wheeler’s return in late April, the Phillies starting pitching unit ranks within the top five in all of baseball in several categories including ERA (3.09), WHIP (1.09), innings pitched (195.1) and BB/9 (2.07) as of Wednesday.
Considering the team’s lack of production at the plate recently, the pitching will have to continue to play at a high level. Nola will need to be a big part of that if the Phillies want to make a deep playoff run.
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