Phillies news and rumors 5/20: Aaron Nola needs to be a stopper

Aaron Nola is in a contract year. (Cheryl Pursell)

There’s a lot of things that the Philadelphia Phillies need right now.

They need Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to get going offensively. They need someone to emerge as a viable leadoff hitter, whether it’s one of those two or Bryson Stott. They need Darick Hall and José Alvarado to return from the injured list.

But as the Phillies sit at a 20-24 crossroads — losers of five in a row — what they need more than anything is for their starting pitching to start to alleviate the pressure on their bullpen. And that starts at the top, with Aaron Nola slated to toe the rubber for Game 2 of a weekend series against the Chicago Cubs.

First and foremost, the Phillies need length from Nola Saturday afternoon. At the time of publication, Nola remains among the top 10 in innings pitched this season, at 55 2/3 through nine starts. Since the start of the 2018 season, Nola leads all MLB pitchers with 927 1/3 innings pitch.

For all the focus given to the never-ending ace debate surrounding Nola, he’s been the definition of a horse, and that’s something to seriously weigh when considering his future with the team beyond 2023.

But make no mistake, the Phillies need the ace version of Nola Saturday, because in recent days, their starting pitching has been atrocious, putting extra pressure on a bullpen that’s been asked to pitch a ton early this season.

Not that you needed a refresher, but here’s what the Phillies starting rotation has done since Nola allowed four runs over seven innings in a loss to the Colorado Rockies last Sunday:

May 15 vs. Giants: Connor Brogdon goes 2/3 of an inning as an opener, before Bailey Falter — since optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley — allows eight hits and six unearned runs over 4 1/3 innings. The Phillies lose 6-3.
May 16 vs. Giants: Zack Wheeler goes six innings, but allows nine hits and four runs in a 4-3 loss.
May 17 vs. Giants: Taijuan Walker allows four hits and walks two, lasting just 2/3 of an inning in a 7-4 loss.
May 19 vs. Cubs: Ranger Suárez throws 66 pitches over only two innings, allowing five hits, four earned runs and three walks in an eventual 10-1 loss.

The Phillies need seven or more innings from Nola Saturday, in part because they can’t continue to ask for five or six innings a night from their bullpen every night. That’s especially true with uncertainty about who will start Sunday.

But in general, the Phillies need Nola to pitch deep into the game because they need a win. It’s getting to the point of the season where contenders start to separate themselves, and just because the Phillies were able to climb out of a 21-29 hole and make the playoffs last year doesn’t mean that’s an ideal plan for 2023.

Must-Read (Or Watch) Phillies Content

Over on Just Baseball, I ranked the five current Phillies uniforms.
Not great:

Phillies Nation‘s Destiny Lugardo spoke to hitting coach Kevin Long about the struggles that the Phillies have had hitting with runners in scoring position this season.

It’s pretty rare that anyone fools Bryce Harper this badly:

MLB.com‘s Todd Zolecki asked Craig Kimbrel some trivia questions about his career as he approaches his 400th career save.
I talked with reliever Gregory Soto about his bizarre start to the 2023 season.
Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer spoke to Trea Turner about why his elite speed and baseball’s new rules haven’t translated to him stealing more bases.
Here’s a much-needed good sign for the Phillies:

Earlier this week, I penned a guest feature breaking down 18 nuggets from the Phillies season so far for John Foley’s excellent Phillies newsletter.
This was an all-timer from Harry Kalas: