Aaron Nola Makes Second Spring Start
4 years agoPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola made his second official start of spring training on Thursday and allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts over four innings (61 pitches). Nola allowed a wind-aided leadoff homer to Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks, but he retired six of the next seven batters he faced. "On a normal day, I'm not so sure that that's a home run," manager Joe Girardi said. "I don't want to take anything away from Aaron [Hicks], but I thought [Nola] had a pretty good day." Not only is Nola the ace of the Phillies, but he should be considered a fantasy ace after setting career marks in strikeout rate (33.2 percent) and swinging-strike rate (13.4 percent) in 2020. If he continues to use his changeup more often to complement his fastball and induce weak contact, Nola should be just fine as an SP1.
Source: MLB.com - Mark Feinsand
Source: MLB.com - Mark Feinsand