Apr 21, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) pitches against the New York Mets during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images John Jones
Aaron Nola has been the most durable pitcher of this era, but his first injury-related trip to the IL since 2017 is turning into a longer one than initially expected.
Reporting from Toronto, Phillies Nation's Destiny Lugardo passed along the latest update on Nola's status, which would seem to indicate it will be some time before the former All-Star returns to the rotation:
Aaron Nola was scheduled to throw live BP on Thursday. He’s shut down for now due to mild stiffness in his right side. Phillies unsure about a timetable for return. He’ll need to get stretched out again once he is ready to go out on rehab assignment.
Nola was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 16 with a right ankle sprain that he suffered doing an exercise in the outfield at George M. Steinbrenner Field back in May. Had Thursday's live batting practice session gone well, Nola was seemingly not far off from getting to do a rehab stint. Now, his progression has been paused. We'll wait to see exactly what his status is in terms of whether this stiffness just sets him back a few days, or ends up being an injury on his own.
In any event, it's not a great sign that Nola — whose best ability in recent years has been his availability — is starting to show some cracks in his age-32 season. The right side of Nola's neck also "locked up" on him before a start on May 4, though he pitched through that successfully. It may be that Nola gets back to pitching every fifth day without hesitation once he returns from the IL. But it's fair to be a bit worried about his ability to do that, particularly given that he's in only the second season of a seven-year, $172 million contract.
Fortunately for the Phillies, they are still in a good place with rotation depth. Mick Abel will rejoin the rotation Wednesday in Toronto, a group that also includes Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo. No. 1 prospect Andrew Painter will start for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs this evening, and his Major League Debut likely will come at some point this summer.
