Apr 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola (27) looks on before the game against the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
The last time that the Phillies played two weeks of games without Aaron Nola making at least one start was in 2017. So it feels like unchartered territory as the Phillies approach multiple weeks since the longest-tenured Phillie last toed the rubber.
There is some progress being made, as Nola did a "touch-and-feel" before Tuesday evening's game against the Atlanta Braves. For those without a degree in baseball lingo, Rob Thomson described a touch-and-feel as "a bullpen session, but it's not the same intensity and it's not the same volume."
Aaron Nola (right ankle) is doing a “touch and feel” on the mound currently. If that goes well, he’ll do a bullpen session at some point in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/w47DXbZFHe
After Nola's touch-and-feel, he discussed how he felt things went.
"It felt pretty good," Nola said. "Not all the way there yet. I'll throw a little heavier bullpen on Thursday. Hope the response is good tomorrow, and kind of push a little bit more on Thursday."
Is he still experiencing any discomfort in the right ankle?
"A little bit in certain movements," Nola said. "It's not all the way there yet to be comfortable to go out and throw 100 pitches. Obviously, gonna probably have to build back up and hopefully it responds good tomorrow and the next day. And hopefully, Thursday I can really kind of push it a little bit more."
Nola added that there's definitely been improvement, but said that the progress has been "just slower than I expected."
In recent years, veterans like Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper have opted to skip the traditional rehab stint in favor of just doing live batting practice sessions and other work with the Major League staff before returning.
Teams probably still would prefer the player go to Double-A or Triple-A and shake off any rust, but veterans have the opportunity to decline doing so. There's a reality that it becomes a whole production when an MLB star is at a minor-league park for a few nights, and some players feel that the payoff of playing against lesser competition isn't worth having to deal with the many distractions.
With that said, it's probably easier for a position player to come back without making a rehab appearance than a pitcher. And while Nola could push back against going to Double-A Reading or Triple-A Lehigh Valley, it doesn't sound like he plans to do that.
"Probably, yeah," Nola said when asked if he expects to need a rehab stint. "I would think so. Just gonna take it day-by-day right now, and then hopefully Thursday, it feels really good and I get on the mound and throw a decent amount."
It is worth pointing out that Nola's most recent start on May 14 against the St. Louis Cardinals was arguably the worst of his career. He was shelled for 12 hits and nine runs — including three homers — over just 3 2/3 innings pitched. Surely, the ankle contributed to that, but a 6.16 ERA over nine starts this season suggests there are other issues for Nola to resolve.
But there's only so much you can do to try to straighten things out without actually being able to push off on a mound. So Tuesday was an important step in the right direction for Nola, even if it took a bit longer to get here than he initially anticipated.
