The September Subject arrives a couple of days early for Aaron Nola originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
PHOENIX — Even though it’s not quite September, the September subject came up in Rob Thomson’s pre-game chat with reporters.
Or should we call it The September Subject?
Aaron Nola was about to take the mound Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the penultimate day of August, close enough to wonder if Thomson thought this would be the year Nola stared down his September demons.
“I am confident he can because we’ve given him time off,” Thomson said. “We gave him time off at the All-Star break and we have a lot of days off in September so he can work on five days’ rest, so I am confident.”
A few hours later, Nola was lit up for five runs in the second inning and eight overall and the Phillies were on their way to a 12-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks under the big top in downtown Phoenix.
The defeat, which included a pitching stint from position player Nick Maton, was the Phillies’ second straight to start off this six-game road trip that will eventually take them to San Francisco for three games. The Phils blew an early 7-0 lead and lost an ugly series opener to the D-Backs, 13-7, on Monday night. After that game, Thomson talked about the importance of “flushing” that game. Hopefully there was enough room left in the septic tank for this one. Arizona ran out to a 9-0 lead before Brandon Marsh clubbed a three-run homer in the eighth. Prior to that, Arizona had scored 22 straight runs against the Phils in the two games.
The defeat left the Phillies at 72-58. With 32 games left, they still control the NL’s second wild-card spot, but they’ve lost three in a row and their lead over San Diego was in danger of being cut to a half-game depending on the outcome of the Padres- Giants game in San Francisco. The Phils’ lead over Milwaukee for the third and final wild-card spot is at three games. The Phils do hold tiebreakers over both the Padres and Brewers.
Nola was coming off one of the best starts of his career, an 11-strikeout, no-walk shutout of the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night.
In this one, he cruised through the first inning 1-2-3 but hit immediate trouble in the second inning as he gave up a full-count double to Christian Walker. Nola then gave up three straight hits and two runs before the D-Backs executed a safety squeeze for another run. Jake McCarthy capped the five-run rally when he clubbed a first-pitch curveball to right for a two-run triple. Two innings later, McCarthy belted a three-run homer against Nola on a first-pitch fastball.
Walker hails from the Norristown area and McCarthy from the Scranton area. They weren’t the only two local boys to torment the Phils. Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen, a South Jersey native who pitched at Bishop Eustace before heading to the University of North Carolina, locked down that early lead en route to his 10th win.
Gallen was brilliant with seven shutout innings. He allowed just two hits, walked one and struck out seven. Over his last five starts, the right-hander has not given up a run in 34⅓ innings while holding opponents to just 13 hits. He has struck out 39 and walked seven over that span.
Nola lasted just four innings and was tagged for 10 hits, including a homer, two doubles and a triple, and eight runs, matching a career-high set in June 2016.
Nola has carried a heavy load for the Phillies throughout his career and it has often caught up with him in September, a month in which he sports a 9-14 record and a 4.60 ERA in 33 starts.
Since 2018, no one in the majors has thrown more innings than his 837⅓. He has pitched 170⅔ innings this season, third-most in the NL.
Phillies officials have been cognizant of Nola’s workload. They got him extra rest at the All-Star break and before his previous start against Cincinnati. Keeping the right-hander fresh and healthy is a matter of huge importance to the team’s chances of locking down a playoff spot and maybe advancing in the postseason. So, too, quite simply, is Nola’s performance.
Workload is also a concern with Zack Wheeler, who is of equal importance to Nola. He led the majors with 213⅓ innings pitched in 2021 and is currently on the injured list with a case of foreman tendinitis that is not considered serious. However, until Wheeler is back on the mound — he’s projected to return September 6 — looking like his old self, there is reason for concern.
And until Nola can conquer his late-season demons, there will be concern about him and what this team can ultimately accomplish. Thanks to off days on Thursday and Monday, Nola’s next start will come with at least two days extra rest, maybe more if Wheeler is ready on September 6. That can’t hurt.
Subscribe to Phillies Talk: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube