MIAMI — It started to happen last summer.
Pitch by pitch, start by start, every five days or so, Aaron Nola began to resemble the honest-to-goodness ace the Phillies lacked since they traded Cole Hamels midway through 2015. Nola harnessed his full repertoire, including a bending curveball, and posted the eighth-best ERA (3.16) among National League starters over the final three months of last season. With the Phillies woefully out of contention, he was a reason to keep watching.
But on Wednesday night, in the midst of his stellar beginning to this new season, the 24-year-old righthander displayed another characteristic of all classic No.