Aaron Nola, Not an Ace
Aaron Nola was supposed to be the bonafide ace of the Philadelphia Phillies this season. With question marks around every other starter and the front office’s inability to address those question marks in the offseason, Aaron Nola was supposed to be the guy the team could count on every fifth day. He was supposed to anchor this starting rotation.
Instead, he’s had his own question marks all season long and has been pretty far from what you would call an ace.
Nola’s final numbers won’t look too bad this season. Before his start on September 24th against the Washington Nationals, he was sitting at 12-6 with a 3.75 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 220 strikeouts. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story, the story of a player who was horrible to start the season and has labored through most of his starts in 2019.
In five April starts, he posted a 6.66 ERA. In June, it was a 4.31 ERA. And when things mattered most, a 6.14 ERA in four September starts (not counting that start against the Nationals, mentioned earlier).
In fact, the Phillies have lost his last six starts (editor’s note: now seven starts), a troubling stat considering the Phillies were in the thick of the National League Wild Card race when that run started.
It’s been such a down year for Nola that he’s only pitched eight innings twice all season long. Why? Because he struggles as the game goes on and barely makes it there; he has a 5.87 ERA in the sixth inning and an 8.10 ERA in the seventh inning.
That’s not very ace-like.
Your ace is also supposed to get the job done on the road, and Nola struggles there as well. He’s 6-4 with a 4.99 ERA, with opponent’s hitting .252 off of him. Compare that with his home numbers of 6-2, a 2.91 ERA, and .219 opponent batting average, and it’s pretty clear that Nola just doesn’t seem comfortable away from Citizens Bank Park this year.
Now you might be thinking to yourself that this makes it seem like Nola is another bad starter in an atrocious Phillies starting rotation. But he’s not. Nola is a great pitcher, and every team would want him on their staff. But the question isn’t, “is Aaron Nola a great pitcher?” Instead, the question that needs to be asked is, “is Aaron Nola a solid number one starting pitcher, a true ace?” And based on what we’ve seen this season and the numbers above, the answer has to be no.
A team’s ace needs to be able to battle through an opposing team’s lineup time and time again, put the team on his back, and get the 1-0 win when his team’s offense is struggling.
And it just doesn’t seem like Nola has the ability to do that on a consistent basis.
At only 26 years of age, there is still plenty of time for Nola to develop the characteristics of an ace. And who knows, maybe he can do that in a season or two.
But the best way for him to do that is for him to not be the ace in 2020. He needs to get some of the pressure of that title off his back and settle into his role as a number two pitcher and just pitch.
The starting rotation clearly needs to be upgraded this offseason and getting a true number one is a great place to start. Gerrit Cole and Madison Bumgarner are two guys the Phillies need to go after to be the new number one starter.
After all, Nola hasn’t looked very ace-like in 2019.
Photo: via @MLB_News247
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