EXCLUSIVE: How a rogue injury kickstarted the meteoric rise of Aaron Nola

On a sunny Saturday in East London, Aaron Nola walked off the practice field after warmups. The Phillies and Mets played a two-game series at London Stadium and while he wasn’t slated to pitch that weekend, he traveled with the team, soaked up the atmosphere, and got in the lab to ensure he stayed ready for his next big start.

Nola had never actually been out of the country prior to that point outside of cruises. His aim for the weekend was simply to explore the architecture, which is funnily enough a metaphor for how he’s approached his development over the last few years.

The 2023 season featured some scintillating starts for the Baton Rouge native, and some struggles against big hitters. Nola allowed a career-high 32 home runs last year, and while not a metric to evaluate quality pitching, the homers were certainly damaging for a pitcher whose strong and sturdy wheels would sometimes wobble after a swing in momentum. The goal was to simply breathe and focus on his process. The results speak for themselves.

There have also been notable changes in his arsenal of pitches. Nola’s knuckle curveball has been destructive this year. He’s thrown it 32% of the time and when partnered with a focus on sinkers and cutters, both of which average speeds of over 87 mph. It creates a real difficulty for opposing batters who have to constantly be wary of the bottom of the strike zone. He’s getting a first pitch strike 65% of the time this season, and his zone contact has dropped from 85% last year to 80% in 2024.

That’s not by accident, either. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham told me about the team’s ‘North Star’ — being great at what you’re good at. Nola’s focus on attacking the bottom of the strike zone and working on a multitude of ways to do so has made it far more difficult for hitters to really generate big plays against him.

In 2016, his first season with the Phils, 40% of the home runs he surrendered were considered ‘no doubters.’ Then he suffered an elbow injury which fundamentally changed the way he had to approach pitching. After having to work on new feels to recreate the same results he did before, he stumbled on a different way of pitching entirely, and it very much shaped the Aaron Nola we see today.

“In 2016 it was a blessing in disguise, I got hurt. I changed my delivery a lot after that year and I think that helped me out a lot. Obviously it was really tough at the time, but I’m glad it happened. I learned a lot about myself as a player and a person.”

Initially, Nola struggled upon his return. His ‘no doubter’ percentage shot up to 60% in 2017, but after slowly understanding what he needed to change, that number dropped. In 2024, that number sits at a staggering 33%. He’s also allowing home runs 15% less of the time this year than he was during his 2023 campaign.

Nola’s persistence and ability to recognize what he needs to change in order to stay at the top of his game is remarkable, and on top of that, this is someone that has been in Philadelphia throughout all of the ups and downs to build mental fortitude. He was there in 2016 when the team languished in the trenches of the NL East, and he was there for both the World Series run in 2022 and the playoff push in 2023. It’s something that excites and ignites the 31-year-old.

‘The postseason changes the whole mindset for the next season,” Nola said. “We’re in first place but we have a goal. We want to get back to the postseason, we’re not harping over being in 1st place. We know where we want to get to and know how hard it is to get to the postseason and to win in the postseason.”

“You see teams roll through the season and get flipped in the playoffs. I think the atmosphere in our clubhouse is we’re winning, but we need to win the next one.”

With so much emphasis on creating a culture where players know that their individuality is encouraged, the Phillies have been able to to build a team of players whose confidence now remains unchanged during storms. Players like Aaron Nola are given the freedom to feel things out for themselves with the support of a coaching staff who will remain honest throughout that process. It’s resulted in not only a meteoric rise for Nola, but the rest of the pitching staff who continue to run through competition with ease on what feels like a nightly basis.