Aaron Nola tinkered with his change-up during each of the past two seasons, but never seemed to find comfort with it. He kept the change-up as his third pitch, opting to lean on the command of his fastball and his dancing curveball.
It was a fine plan. Both pitches were good enough for Nola to become one of baseball’s top young pitchers. But it was that third offering – a fully developed change-up – that could make Nola elite. And if Tuesday night’s 4-2 win over the Giants is evidence, Nola’s tinkering has seemed to pay off.
Nola struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven innings.