Aaron Nola adds to the lore of his Phillies career with another clinching win
In another clutch pitching performance when it counts, Aaron Nola solidifies his status as one of the better pitchers in Phillies history.
The Philadelphia Phillies continue their march toward the postseason. After clinching their first National League East title since 2011, the club still has some work to do before October begins in wrapping up a bye in the Wild Card round.
While Monday night's clinching victory had contributions from several bats in the lineup, perhaps the most impressive aspect of the win was Aaron Nola's performance as he pitched 6+ innings allowing just two earned runs and fanning seven Chicago Cub's hitters in a big time spot.
Aaron Nola adds to the lore of his Phillies career with another clinching win
Nola has endured his share of criticism over his time with the Phillies. However, the longest tenured player on the roster has consistently been one of the most reliable pitchers in all of baseball since his debut in 2015.
In fact, in appearances in which the Phillies had the opportunity to clinch, Nola has been an ace. In seven games where the club could clinch a playoff spot, a division title, or a postseason round, the right-hander has an ERA of 1.62 over 44 1/3 innings. In that span he has 47 strikeouts and just seven walks.
The 2014 first-round draft pick has been a mainstay in the Phillies starting rotation since being called up in July of 2015. He has been part of some of the worst clubs in franchise history and now has been able to be a valuable contributor to the most recent team organizational success.
After the game, Nola spoke about his career in Philadelphia. MLB.com's Todd Zolecki noted how big winning a division title is for the Phillies' starter.
“Man, it's been a long time coming,” Nola said about winning the division. “It's really cool. Really cool. I've always wanted to win the division. When I first got up here in the big leagues, I felt like we were a little bit ways away from doing that. But we made a lot of jumps over the years. We went through a lot of struggles.”
After re-signing with the Phillies last fall, Nola will continue to be a major part of the rotation plans for the foreseeable future. It is likely that he will be asked to perform in many more big games. When his career is all said and done, he could be at the top of the Phillies franchise leaderboards in team history.
It is fitting that the longest-tenured Phillies player was tasked with getting the job done to clinch the club's first division win in over a decade.
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