Phillies place Aaron Nola on injured list; Mick Abel to make major league debut Sunday

Aaron Nola, one of the most durable pitchers in baseball, will miss time due to injury for the first time since 2017.

The Phillies announced on Friday that Nola was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right ankle sprain. The right-hander spent 10 days on the COVID-19 list in 2021, but has not missed a start due to injury since suffering a lower back strain in 2017.

Phillies prospect Mick Abel is set to make his major league debut for a spot start on Sunday. Taijuan Walker will then return to the rotation during the team’s road trip to Colorado and will remain there until Nola is reactivated.

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Nola said he came down hard on his ankle while doing agility work on the field in Tampa last Thursday, ahead of his start in Cleveland. He tried to pitch through it, but the team decided to put him on the injured list when the issue continued to linger.

Nola, who has a 1-7 record and 6.16 ERA this season, had one of the worst starts of his career against St. Louis on Wednesday. He allowed a career-high 12 hits and nine earned runs. He said directly afterward that he felt fine physically, but conceded Friday that his ankle had been bothering him on the mound.

“It was definitely there, for sure,” Nola said. “I mean, definitely not that comfortable. It got a little better from the first start [in Cleveland]. I thought it’d be better by now.”

Nola’s 1,482⅓ innings pitched since 2017 lead the majors. The Phillies ultimately approached him about going on the injured list, concerned that he would overcompensate for the ankle leading to other injuries.

“I try to be as healthy as possible so I can be prepared and make my starts every single time I’m given the baseball,” Nola said. “And it’s just something that just happened, not baseball related, just trying to do a lot of similar stuff that I usually do the day before starts and during the week. And just kind of a freak thing, just happened to come down on it.”

The move was backdated to Wednesday. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that he doesn’t anticipate Nola needing much longer than the 15 days. He will continue to travel with the team on their upcoming road trip to Colorado and Sacramento.

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“I have to keep my arm moving for sure,” Nola said. “My body feels really good. So hopefully it’s quick.”

Abel, who was initially scheduled to start for triple-A Lehigh Valley Friday in Syracuse, threw a bullpen Friday night and will be recalled on Saturday. Daniel Robert, who served as the Phillies’ extra man during their doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, was recalled to be in the bullpen for Friday’s game.

Abel, 23, is ranked the Phillies’ No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline. His trajectory to his major league debut has not been linear. The 2020 first-round draft pick struggled last year in triple A, posting a 6.46 ERA in 24 starts. This season, however, he has made a stark turnaround.

“The stuff’s always been there,” Thomson said. “He’s throwing strikes, he’s missing bats. His walk rate’s down. He’s just a very confident guy right now. Really excited to see him and see him pitch.”

The 6-foot-5 righty has a 2.53 ERA and has held hitters to a .215 batting average in eight starts for the IronPigs. He was named Phillies minor league pitcher of the month for April, and his 51 strikeouts are third-most in the International League.

“Taking all offseason to get back to a position where I can just be athletic and not try to throw the ball a certain way, that helped a lot,” Abel said on a recent episode of Phillies Extra, the Inquirer’s baseball show. “I’m not thinking about anything while I’m out there other than trying to compete, but also mentality-wise I’m just trying to attack hitters. It’s strike one, strike two, good luck. That’s kind of how I’m trying to approach it.”

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Right-handed pitcher Moisés Chace, ranked the Phillies No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, will undergo Tommy John surgery, Rob Thomson announced Friday.

Chace, 21, had been removed from his last start on Wednesday after only 1⅔ innings and was placed on the seven-day injured list. He has a 3.24 ERA in six starts and 16 ⅔ innings for double-A Reading this season. The Athletic reported he had been experiencing a drop in velocity.

Chace was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline last year along with Seth Johnson in exchange for reliever Gregory Soto. The Phillies added Chace to the 40-man roster in November in order to protect him in the Rule 5 draft.

Andrew Painter made his second start in Lehigh Valley on Thursday, earning his first triple-A win. Painter threw 71 pitches over five innings, allowing just two runs, five hits (one home run), and two walks. He struck out five. In his next start on Wednesday, Painter is scheduled to throw five innings again. ... Justin Crawford hit his first triple-A home run on Thursday. ... Zack Wheeler (4-1,2.95 ERA) is scheduled to start on Saturday against Pittsburgh right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski.