The Philadelphia Phillies find themselves on the brink of elimination from the 2025 MLB playoffs. It feels much too early to be writing that, but alas, here we are. Heading into Game 3 of the NLDS on Wednesday, the Phillies will need to win to keep their season alive and reel off three straight wins to advance past the Los Angeles Dodgers to the NLCS.
If you've watched the first two games of this best-of-five series, you know how unlikely of an outcome that seems. With their season on the line, Phillies manager Rob Thomson has continued his questionable decision-making this postseason with his Game 3 starter.
After Monday's 4-3 loss in Game 2, Thomson named Aaron Nola his starting pitcher for Game 3, per MLB.com's Paul Casella. That's a risky move if we've ever seen one, especially with Ranger Suárez having yet to pitch in this series.
Starting Aaron Nola in Game 3 feels like a risky move for Phillies manager Rob Thomson's future
Nola, as Phillies fans are well aware, had his worst season in the majors this year. Around a three-month absence due to injury, the right-hander struggled to a 5-10 record with a 6.01 ERA in 17 starts. His final outing of the season was by far his best, when he dominated the Minnesota Twins over eight innings with lethal-looking stuff.
It feels like Thomson is staking both the Phillies' season and his future employment on Nola being the version of Nola we've rarely seen this year. Is an elimination game the best time to roll the dice?
"It will be Aaron Nola, with Ranger behind him," Thomson said about his Game 3 starter, per Casella. "Nola has never pitched out of the ‘pen. How long he goes, I don't know. But I trust him."
Somewhere, Suárez is probably wondering what he did to Thomson to remain on the sidelines so far. Through the first two games, Thomson has had the left-hander in the bullpen but has left him down there to rot. This, despite telling media pre-game that he was going to use Suárez in leverage in Game 2, according to Tim Kelly of On Pattison.
There were certainly plenty of leverage situations to be had, but no sign of the pending free agent.
It makes one wonder if there's something physically wrong with Suárez — remember he took a comebacker near a very sensitive area which ended his final start of the season. However, Thomson also said that Suárez would follow Nola in Game 3. We'll believe it when we see it, at this point.
With the Phillies teetering agonizingly close to their third straight playoff failure after reaching the World Series in 2022, it feels like Nola's start against the Dodgers will have a lot of influence on Thomson's future as the Phillies' skipper. If it works out and the Phillies extend their season by a game, or two, or three, the tide might turn in Thomson's favor.
If not … well, this could be the end of the road for this Phillies group, including the manager.