NEW YORK — Aaron Nola once stood on the mound here and struck out 10 consecutive batters, tying a major-league record set by a Hall of Famer with a 10-foot tall statue outside the main gate of this ballpark.
Just in case anyone forgot who Nola is.
That was a long time ago — June 25, 2021, to be exact. Nola is 33 now, with as much mileage on his iron right arm as any pitcher in the sport. And until this week, he wasn’t as essential to the entire Phillies’ operation.
But with nine games to go, a playoff spot within reach, and star lefty Jesús Luzardo shut down by an inflamed shoulder, the spotlight is back on the Phillies’ longest-tenured player.
What a time, then, for Nola to turn back the clock.
That’s clearly what’s happening, the latest gem coming Thursday night when Nola faced the minimum 15 batters through five innings, didn’t yield a hit until the sixth, and threw 81 pitches over seven innings — a model of efficiency and effectiveness — in a 3-0 victory over the Mets.
You could’ve sworn it was 2022 all over again.
“It feels good,” Nola said, understated as ever.
But here’s the thing: It wasn’t a one-off. Quietly, as is his nature, Nola has pitched like this for six weeks, beginning with a hard-luck 1-0 loss July 28 in Miami. In his last 10 starts, he has a 2.10 ERA in 60 innings.
These are the Phillies, though, so it couldn’t be all good. Jonathan Bowlan, who has emerged as the primary setup reliever, took over from Nola and left in the eighth inning with what the Phillies termed “tightness” in his right groin.
“No pop, nothing like that,” said Bowlan, who missed two weeks in April with a strained right groin. “All I can do is treatment, and re-evaluate and go from there. We’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings.”
The bullpen is already missing Brad Keller, sidelined in July by season-ending elbow surgery. Orion Kerkering has been slowed by turf toe. Rookie Alex McFarlane is already playing a big role. Without Bowlan, lefty Tim Mayza and others would have to take up the mantle.
“We’ll find out more tomorrow,” interim manager Don Mattingly said after the Phillies pulled into a tie with the idle Cubs for the top National League wild card and lowered their playoff-clinching magic number to five. “I don’t want to be coldhearted, but you’d have to move on and find a way to fill that spot, which is not necessarily easy to do. But that means other guys got to step up. That’s all.”
Just like Nola.
Nola is nothing less than one of the best homegrown pitchers in franchise history. On the Phillies’ all-time lists, he ranks second in strikeouts (2,045), fifth in wins (116), and seventh in innings (1,884).
Someday, he’ll get a plaque on the Wall of Fame in Ashburn Alley.
But through June, Nola had a 6.04 ERA — after an injury-plagued 2025 in which he finished with a career-worst 6.01 mark. Never one to overpower hitters with velocity, his command must be precise. And nothing has gotten easier for him, not with the advent of the pitch clock, the automated ball-strike system, a limit on the number of pickoff moves, and just the passage of time.
It was fair to wonder if Nola, signed through 2030 at $24.57 million per year, was cooked.
“Not for me,” Mattingly said. “Honestly, guys that locate like that and work and are healthy, you know what they’ve been in the past. And guys just don’t quit trying to get better and reinventing themselves, in a sense. As you get older, you have to do it.”
Indeed, after a decade of spinning his curveball, burying his sinker, and pounding the strike zone, Nola changed his pattern. In particular, he threw more changeups, even to right-handed hitters.
“I think it’s just mixing well and throwing all the pitches for strikes and just trying to keep everything sharp and the delivery sharp,” Nola said. “Try not to be too perfect with my pitches.”
Against the Mets, Nola relied on his signature curveball. He threw 47 pitches through five innings and sat through a long delay in the top of the sixth when Mets first baseman Jared Young got carted off the field on a stretcher in a scary scene after colliding with pitcher Nolan McLean and taking a knee to the head.
(Young had feeling in his extremities, according to the Mets, but was taken to the hospital, where a CT scan was negative.)
Nola allowed a one-out walk in the sixth on a 10-pitch duel with Brett Baty before finally giving up a hit, a solid single to left field by Nick Morabito. He got through the seventh and might have come back for the eighth, too.
“But just checking with him, he seemed hesitant to me,” Mattingly said. “He felt like he didn’t have the same fastball. He was kind of running out of gas.”
NL wild-card standings
And given the uncertainty with Luzardo, Mattingly isn’t about to take chances with Nola — or any other starter.
“We really hope [Luzardo] can come back healthy — and quick,” Nola said. “We really need him.”
Meanwhile, there’s Nola, with his 3.88 ERA in 11 career postseason starts, tied for 14th-most among active pitchers.
“Noles is huge,” Mattingly said. “It was tough there early for him, but he just hung in there, kept working, and next thing you know, you’re seeing this. And with Zeus, not knowing what’s going on as this thing gets down to the wire, how Noles factors in could be huge.”
The Phillies and Braves are set to square off again this weekend in Atlanta, so it’s the perfect time to check in with Jeff Francoeur, who played for both teams and calls Braves games on TV and radio. Francoeur joined Phillies Extra to help break down the race for NL East supremacy. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Luke Murton | Mike Hazen | Tony Gwynn Jr. | Kevin Stocker | Bobby Dickerson | Jim Bowden | John Middleton | Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico
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