MLB drafts: 10 best selections from 2012-16
By Bill Felber
MLB draft: 10 best selections from 2012-16
3. Aaron Nola (2014 draft), 4.06 average WAR
If identifying draft talent is hard, honing in on mound talent is logarithmically more challenging. Of the 10 most productive draft choices since 2012, Nola is the only pitcher to make the list.
The Blue Jays selected Nola as a Louisiana high schooler in 2011, but he opted to sign with LSU instead. That made him available three years later when the Phillies selected seventh. They liked him enough to take him ahead of such prospects as Kyle Freeland, Michael Conforto, Trea Turner, Sean Newcomb, and Matt Chapman.
They had a reason. In two seasons at LSU Nola had gone 23-2 in 33 starts, allowing just 41 earned runs in 242 innings of work. That’s a 1.52 ERA, and he fanned 256 opponents to boot.
Nola needed only 31 minor league appearances to persuade Phillies brass he was major league material. He debuted in July of 2015 with six innings, allowing Tampa Bay just one run but taking the 1-0 loss when his new teammates were held to four base hits.
Things got better. Nola won five of his final seven decisions that season, and by 2017 was an established part of Philadelphia’s rotation. He has a 53-35 career record in 127 big league starts.
He’s also proven durable, topping 200 innings in both 2018 and 2019.