Philadelphia Phillies Could Promote Aaron Nola Soon
By David Hill
Aaron Nola has certainly been a bit of a hot topic over the past few weeks. One of the top minor league pitching prospects, it seems to be a matter of time before the Philadelphia Phillies make the move and promote him to the major league roster. In fact, given the state of the Phillies starting rotation, it is a bit of a surprise that Nola is not in the major leagues already.
We may, however, have some insight as to when Nola’s arrival may be happening. According to former Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg, the plan has been for Nola to remain in the minors at least through the All-Star Break, and to not even think of having him arriving before then. That seems to be fairly definitive of when to expect Nola to be in the majors.
Of course, the specification of “after the All-Star Break” is certainly intriguing. Does this mean that Ruben Amaro Jr. expects to move one of his starting pitchers at the deadline, creating room for Nola? Or will the Phillies finally banish one of their horrendous starters to make room for the top prospect?
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At this point, it would seem as though Aaron Nola has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues. Despite being a first round draft pick last year, Nola has dominated at every level he has been at thus far. He had produced a 7-3 record with a 1.88 ERA and a 0.887 WHiP in twelve starts at AA before being promoted to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. There, in the AAA level at age 22, Nola has a 3-0 record with a 2.43 ERA and a 1.281 WHiP in his five outings. While that may be a small sample size, it certainly speaks volumes to the type of potential that Nola has.
Chances are, even with his minor league success, Nola may not be a top of the rotation starter for the Phillies. Even though he was dominant at the AA level, Nola only struck out 74 batters in his 100.2 innings for the Reading Fightin Phils, relying more on his ability to generate weak fly balls than an ability to throw the ball past the opposing batter. Yet, it is highly probable that Nola is much better than the flotsam and jetsam that the Phillies are trotting out to the mound whenever Cole Hamels is not starting.
Aaron Nola’s time with the Philadelphia Phillies is coming. Based on what Sandberg had to say, Nola could be making his major league debut fairly soon.