Phillies send Nola to mound looking to split interleague series with Tigers

Aaron Nola is among a slew of accomplished pitchers that struggled in April. (Ian D’Andrea)

After their first off day in 18 days on Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies didn’t appear ready to return to action Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers. Gabe Kapler’s squad took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but only managed two hits the rest of the game in an eventual 3-1 loss to a Tigers team that FanGraphs projects will lose over 90 games in 2019.

Before a second off day on Thursday, the Phillies will turn to Aaron Nola, hoping to salvage a series split against Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers.

After finishing third in National League Cy Young Award voting a season ago, Nola will be looking to turn the page on a disastrous month of April. Remarkably, Nola went 1-0 in five starts in April, but the Phillies went 1-4 in his starts. Across 25.2 innings last month, Nola posted a 6.66 ERA. He did turn in a somewhat encouraging start his last time out, scattering seven hits over 6.2 innings, which was by far his most encouraging start in April.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Tuesday evening’s Phillies-Tigers tilt:

Phillies Lineup 

1. Andrew McCutchen, center field
2. Jean Segura, shortstop
3. Bryce Harper, right field
4. Rhys Hoskins, left field
5. J.T. Realmuto, catcher
6. Sean Rodriguez, left field
7. Cesar Hernandez, second base
8. Maikel Franco, third base
9. Aaron Nola, pitcher

Tigers Lineup

1. Jeimer Candelario – third base
2. Nicholas Castellanos – right field
3. Miguel Cabrera – first base
4. Niko Goodrum – left field
5. Ronny Rodriguez – second base
6. John Hicks – catcher
7. Jordy Mercer – shortstop
8. JaCoby Jones – center field
9. Daniel Norris – pitcher

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Matchup

• Daniel Norris (1-0, 3.93 ERA, 5.29 FIP) vs. Aaron Nola (2-0, 5.68 ERA, 5.38 FIP)
• Norris was once a top prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, before being traded to the Tigers as part of the July 2015 David Price trade.
• As outlined in an edition of Phillies Nuggets that aimed to pinpoint why Aaron Nola has struggled so much to open the 2019 season, opposing hitters have adjusted their launch angle against Nola to 10.4 in 2019. The average launch angle hitters have used against Nola in his career is 7.8.

Pregame Phillies Nuggets

1. Bryce Harper, who heard some boos in Tuesday night’s loss to the Tigers, has 48 at-bats in the last 15 days. Over that span he’s hitting just .208 with 16 strikeouts.
2. Miguel Cabrera, who spent the first five years of his career with the then-Florida Marlins, has a .322 career batting average at Citizens Bank Park.
3. In the 19 games that Jean Segura has started at shortstop in 2019, the Phillies are 12-7.

Programming Information

• Citizens Bank Park
• 7:05 p.m.
• NBC Sports Philadelphia
• SportsRadio 94 WIP

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