‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Aaron Nola on how he gets ready for a start, 10 years with the same team, and more

Nothing in baseball is guaranteed. But seeing Aaron Nola on the mound for the Phillies every fifth game is as close as it gets.

Since the outset of the 2018 season, Nola hasn’t missed a start due to injury. He leads all major league pitchers with 216 starts, 1,310⅔ innings, 20,758 pitches, and 13,879 strikes. If you want to include the postseason, go ahead and tack on 10 starts, 53⅔ innings, and 850 pitches.

And he has done it all with one team.

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Later this season, Nola will reach 10 years of major league service time, a milestone for every player. But he will be only the sixth active player to get to 10 years with one team, joining Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), Mike Trout (Angels), Jose Altuve (Astros), Salvador Perez (Royals), and José Ramírez (Guardians).

In a recent appearance on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball show, Nola discussed his longevity and durability, as well as other topics. Here’s an excerpt from our wide-ranging conversation, which has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Watch the full interview below.

A: For sure. I mean, we hear guys talk about changing something up every year, adding a new pitch or something like that. And I feel like I’m not that good to add a new pitch every year, right? I feel like I have my arsenal, and I added a cutter in 2021 and it was a slow progress for me and it just kind of kept evolving each year. I had starts where it felt good and then starts that didn’t feel good at all. And I didn’t really throw it and I just kept working on it.

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But I feel like this year it’s felt the best it has, consistency-wise. So I hope I can keep that pitch sharp all year and all my pitches sharp all year. But yeah, I feel like that opens up a little bit more for my arsenal rather than just throwing the curveball a lot like I have my whole career. The curveball has always been there and it’s been my two-strike pitch, so it would be nice to have more two-strike pitches. That’s what I always try to work on and try to keep the hitters guessing a little bit. Because like you said, I have been pitching in the same league my whole career, so guys have seen me a lot and they kind of know what I like to go to with two strikes.

There’s so much numbers nowadays and nothing’s a secret anymore, so I feel like guys know what they can maybe sit on with two strikes. So, it is good to change it up. But with that being said, I have to get ahead of the guys, No. 1, and I have to establish my fastball and I have to establish all my pitches for strikes.

A: It kind of all depends on that start day as far as what those next days will be like. [The next day after a start] I would go work out, either run or bike — right now, I’ve been biking a little bit more. I do a lower body workout. If I’m really sore, which thankfully so far this year I really haven’t been sore that much, I would throw a little bit on the field just to get the arm moving, get the blood flowing a little bit. But most of the time as the season goes on, I don’t really throw the day after I pitch. And then I go work out and then try to sweat as much as I can because I found for myself if I sweat a lot the day after, I’m usually pretty good to go the next day for my bullpen. So, usually the soreness is mostly out.

The day after I start, I really, really try to focus on recovery. Obviously train, but recover, try to get my body kind of back to normal again, reorganize it. So, Day 2 is my bullpen. I’ll do upper body workouts and then I’ll do some running on the field. The next day after that, Day 3, completely off. So, complete recovery day, usually get a massage or get one of the trainers to work on me, and I’ll probably get the hot and cold tub contrast a little bit. And then, Day 4, I’ll throw on the field and do some sprint work, some agility [work] to kind of get the body moving, kind of fast twitch the day before I pitch.

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It’s changed over the years. Before 2022, I was every day. I was doing something every single day. And then once the middle of 2022 hit, I took that day off after my bullpen completely, which I feel like I needed. The older I get, I feel like it’s changed just a hair. Jake Arrieta actually taught me that when he was here. He kind of told me what he did, and there’s some days where travel’s tough. You’re traveling, Sunday Night Baseball … You get home really early in the morning, and you’re a little bit more sore. The body’s not feeling as good. Take the day off. There’s nothing wrong with that, because for starting pitchers, I believe that we have to be ready, and our body has to be the best prepared as possible on the day we start. And we’re lucky enough to have time to get it ready. We got four days to get it ready, so I try to put a lot of work into my body to be feeling as good as possible, as conditioned as possible, and try to drink as much water as possible for that day.

A: It means a lot. It goes by so quick. I’ve always just wanted to play 10 years, and obviously want to play more than 10 years. And to do it with the same team, I’m really grateful. In today’s game it’s not as common as it used to be. For active players right now, it’s a pretty good group to be in. I’m grateful Philadelphia brought me back [as a free agent before last season]. This is the only place I’ve known, pretty much my second home.

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It was really different when I first signed here because it was such a different place than [Baton Rouge, La.], where I grew up in. Obviously got used to it and accustomed to it and accustomed to the people in Philadelphia, the fans and, raising a family now. So, I’ve been through a lot since I’ve been here, which has been pretty awesome. I’ve met a lot of new people. We still have coaches and staff members that have been here since I first got here, which is pretty awesome. I just think the family part of the organization in Philadelphia is awesome. They do such a great job of making it family-like and family-feeling. Just grateful to be with one team.

A: It’s so cool, man. It really is. And I loved being around Cole in spring training and when he was here not too long ago in Philly. I just got to talk to him and we talked about that day in Chicago and some other times, too. I wasn’t here too long with them and I wish I could have played with him longer, but that’s just how baseball goes. And it’s pretty cool to be with one team to see that: Cole, then me and then Painter. Painter’s so young, and I was in his shoes when I first came in and Cole was in his shoes when he first came in. So it’s pretty cool.

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And I’m glad the Phillies have Cole around because he’s obviously played on such good teams, had a really great career. He’s experienced a lot and he knows a lot. He’s got a lot of wisdom about baseball, and for me to be around that when I was young was great. But for Painter to talk to him about those days in baseball I think is even cooler because baseball is obviously way different now than when Cole came up. … I think the older school of baseball and the newer school of baseball, when they meet together, I think it’s important. And I think younger guys should know how guys went about their business back then, how guys handled themselves, how they played the game, how they thought, I think is really important for young guys these days.