In the 2024 Phillies rotation, it can be easy to overlook Aaron Nola. Zack Wheeler is in Tier 1 of starting pitchers across the whole league. Cristopher Sánchez is a breakout star who earned himself a midseason contract extension. Ranger Suárez is Ranger Suárez.
But with seven dominant innings against the Houston Astros on Tuesday, Nola provided a reminder that he, and his season, shouldn’t in fact be overlooked. He ranks ninth in the National League with 153 strikeouts and seventh with a 3.30 ERA that would be the third-best non-pandemic mark of his career.
He completed seven innings for, shockingly, the first time since June 24 — even though he’s finished five innings in all 13 starts since June 13.
“It’s been a while since I finished seven,” Nola said after the game to reporters, including Phillies Nation’s Tim Kelly. “Felt like it was much needed.”
Still, because of that consistency, Nola’s up to second in the NL and fourth in MLB with 166 1/3 innings on the year. Since 2018, when he finished third in NL Cy Young voting, he’s never finished lower than 17th in innings across MLB, with three top-10 finishes. Barring injury (or perhaps even then, depending on timing), he’ll do it again.
There were two sides to that coin when Nola entered free agency this past offseason: One one hand, that level of durability is extremely rare, and teams should never let starters with that asset walk. On the other, wear and tear is a thing, and you never know when the innings will catch up to him. Father Time is undefeated, or so the saying goes.
It’s still Year 1 of his seven-year, $172 million contract, so any conclusions about which side of the coin the Phillies landed on are premature. It’s not, though, premature to rule on how the first year has gone. He’s having one of his better seasons statistically (as he tends to do in even-numbered years, oddly). He, again, hasn’t seen the injured list this season. He’s eating up innings without sacrificing quality for quantity.
Year 1 has gone quite well.
Must-read Phillies content
- Here’s the recap of Nola’s great outing and Tuesday’s win, from Destiny Lugardo.
- Tim Kelly on José Alvarado’s absence and what it means for the other lefties in the bullpen.
- From Tim: “Nick Castellanos gives most Nick Castellanos answer ever.”
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