Aaron Nola struggles with his command again in Phillies’ loss: ‘It’s unacceptable’

Nola has walked four batters in consecutive games for the first time in his career and raised his ERA to 6.65 through four starts this season. "It's unacceptable," Nola said.

Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola and catcher Rafael Marchan meet at the mound in the first inning. Nola gave up four runs in the inning.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published April 16, 2025, 10:18 p.m. ET

Aaron Nola made his first major league start 10 years ago, which means any Phillies fan over the age of, say, 16, has easy-to-recall firsthand evidence of two truths about the team’s longest-tenured player.

He never misses a start.
His command is impeccable.

Is it time to begin questioning that second thing?

Hold that thought.

First, some facts: For a second start in a row, both in the chill of low-50s temperatures, Nola walked four batters, one with the bases loaded. Wednesday night, he yielded four runs and threw 35 pitches in a first-inning slog, survived to see the sixth, but walked off the mound with the bases loaded.

Oh, and the Phillies were stomped, 11-4 by the Giants. It was their fourth loss in as many Nola starts, their sixth in nine games overall after a 7-2 start. They can salvage a split of the four-game series with a victory behind lefty Cristopher Sánchez in a matinee Thursday.

“It’s unacceptable,” said Nola, 0-4 with a 6.65 ERA. “Too many free passes, and usually, those runs have been scored. Just making it harder on myself in those situations.”

Back to Nola in a moment.

The Phillies tied the game with two first-inning runs and Bryce Harper’s two-run homer in the fourth against lefty Robbie Ray. But the Giants retook the lead on Johan Rojas’ throwing error in the fifth inning, then pulled away with two runs in the sixth and four in the seventh against reliever Joe Ross.

It was another rough night for Phillies center fielders. Rojas got the hardest hit of his career — 112.4 mph off the bat for a double in the fourth inning — but missed the cutoff man on Matt Chapman’s one-out single in the fifth, enabling the go-ahead run to score from third base.

“The ball just got away from him,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s got to be a little bit more under control, make sure he gets the cutoff.”

Then, Brandon Marsh hit for Rojas in the sixth inning and went 0-for-2, stretching his hitless streak to 31 at-bats.

Make no mistake, though: This loss was on Nola, who has walked eight of 52 batters in his last two starts. He walked 50 of 820 batters all of last season.

In 272 career starts, Nola has now walked four batters in a game 18 times. He hadn’t done it in back-to-back starts until this: last Friday night in St. Louis and before 38,532 paying customers against the Giants.

When Nola walked the Cardinals’ Alec Burleson with the bases loaded last Friday, it marked only the second time in his career that he walked in a run. It has now happened two starts in a row.

“It drives me crazy,” said Nola, the first Phillies pitcher with an 0-4 record through four starts to begin a season since David Buchanan in 2015. “Three times in my career I’ve done that, and two times the last two games. I’ve just got to get ahead better.”

Nola, who hasn’t missed a start due to injury since 2017, said his arm feels healthy as ever. Maybe it has to do with the weather. Because unlike fellow Phillies starters Zack Wheeler, Sánchez, and Jesús Luzardo, Nola doesn’t overpower hitters. He pitches on feel. If he doesn’t hit his spots, he tends to struggle.

And with 54-degree temperatures at first pitch (it was 53 degrees last week in St. Louis), it’s difficult to grip the ball and make precise pitches.

Nola has had rough Aprils before. In 2023, he had a 4.46 ERA through the first month. He had a 5.68 ERA through six starts in 2019.

“It’s definitely the worst start I’ve ever had by far, I feel like,” Nola said. “All I can do is keep working.”

If anything, Nola figures the absence of command may be attributed to mechanics, specifically out of the stretch. His strike-throwing issues in the first inning against the Giants came after he gave up back-to-back-to-back one-out hits. He walked Heliot Ramos to load the bases, and after striking out LaMonte Wade Jr., walked Wilmer Flores to force in a run and allowed a two-run single to Patrick Bailey.

“Usually it’s been in the stretch,” Nola said. “The windup feels pretty good. I feel like I’m getting ahead a decent amount of time in the windup. In the stretch, I’m getting 1-0 a lot, and then I end up [with a] walk and then bases loaded. Just got to get ahead a little better.”

As the first inning dragged on, the Phillies called down to the bullpen. Ross began to loosen before sitting down after Nola struck out No. 9-hitting Tyler Fitzgerald to get out of the inning and give himself a chance to stay in the game.

Generally, though, Thomson isn’t inclined to make much out of four starts. And when it’s Nola, he maintains that he’s even less concerned.

“I think just because of his track record after April. It’s pretty good,” Thomson said. “He’s had some good Aprils, too. But this guy’s a grinder. He throws 35 pitches in the first inning and gets into the sixth. He figures it out, no matter what kind of stuff he’s got.”

Said Nola: “Eight walks in two games overall, it’s not good. I’ll clean it up.”