In biggest start of his career, Aaron Nola dominates
It feels right that the Phillie with the most connections to the franchise’s golden era ended the 11-year postseason drought.
Aaron Nola was teammates with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Carlos Ruiz caught a couple of his starts in 2016. He was in the rotation when Cole Hamels threw a no-hitter and was traded a few days later. On that day, Hamels was asked to give a speech in the clubhouse. He said, “So, who is pitching tomorrow?” The team pointed at a 22-year-old babyfaced Nola with a shy smirk on his face. Hamels jeered. Nola would earn his first career win the next day.
More than seven years later, Nola carried a perfect game through 6 2/3 innings against the Astros. He was taken out after surrendering two straight singles in the seventh, but the dominant lefty José Alvarado stranded the runners to keep Nola in line for the victory.
His fastball command was the best it’s been all season. He dotted the corners, buckled hitters with the curve and even reached back for a little extra from time to time. He cruised through a lineup that could reach the World Series.
“And all that (crap) about Aaron Nola in September,” Rhys Hoskins told reporters. “I think that can go away now.”
For five years, Nola was the poster boy for the Phillies’ late-season failures. He finished two of the last three Septembers with an ERA over six. The image of a defeated Nola closing his eyes to hold back emotion in the dugout while Joe Girardi consoled him after a poor outing against the Rays on the final day of the season in 2020 is still entrenched in everyone’s mind.
This time around, the Phillies were a little more judicious with Nola’s workload leading up to the final month of the season. He’ll still finish the regular season as one of just a handful of pitchers to reach 200 innings, but it wasn’t like 2019 where the Phillies purposely manipulated the rotation to have Nola pitch every five days, off days be damned.
Combine that with the fact that his stuff has improved as the season moved along and it adds up to an almost perfect ending to a great regular season. He finished September/October with a 2.36 ERA.
He was quietly one of the best pitchers in the National League in 2022. Nola will not win the Cy Young, but it would be surprising if he isn’t on at least a few ballots. He was a strikeout to walk darling. His 7.8 K/BB ratio is the best in baseball. He’s the best pitcher in baseball, according to FanGraphs WAR.
If Phillies fans were looking for a poetic, dreamlike ending to the grueling 11-year postseason drought, you got it. Kyle Schwarber, a slugger who was brought in for his power, postseason pedigree and clubhouse prowess, hit two home runs. Zach Eflin, a longtime Phillie whose career has so far been defined by peaks and valleys, earned his first save in what could be his final regular season outing with the club.
“Honest to God, I thought he was going to throw a perfect game, I really did,” Rob Thomson said on Nola’s performance. “And when I went out to take him out , I thought he was going to chew my head off. He just had that look in his eye. But all night he had that look in his eye, like I’m going to get this thing done. And his stuff was great. And he just mowed them down.
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