Phillies starter Aaron Nola returned from injury and struggled, which ballooned his ERA to 6.92 in just 10 starts.

As the Philadelphia Phillies look to close out the National League East division in 2025, one of their greatest assets has been their starting pitching. Paced b

Saturday night, news dropped that the Phillies were placing ace righty Zack Wheeler on the injured list due to a blood clot in his shoulder area. More on that in a second. Sunday, veteran right-hander Aaron Nola returned from a lengthy stint on the injured list.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola's first start after returning from the injured list didn't last long. The right-hander allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings Sunday against the Washington Nationals, a start that ended when seven consecutive batters reached safely.

The Phillies entered the weekend with one of the best rotations in the league. Much of that stability changed in about 24 hours.

The Philadelphia Phillies' rotation is suddenly in a weird spot, and Aaron Nola needs to perform better than he did on Sunday.

Sure, the Phillies rallied for an 11-9 victory, scoring five runs against the last-place Nationals’ putrid bullpen and surviving a three-run rally in the ninth that brought the tying run to the plate and forced manager Rob Thomson to use closer Jhoan Duran.

Nola, 32, had a 6.16 ERA in nine starts prior to his ankle injury, which was his first trip to the injured list for a non-COVID reason since a back issue sidelined him for a month in 2017. This is Year 2 of Nola's seven-year, $172 million contract.

Aaron Nola hit another wall in his return, but the Phillies were able to overcome it to split a four-game set in D.C., though now with the high uncertainy of Zack Wheeler's status looming.