Something is off with Aaron Nola this year. Last season, not only was he the Phillies ace, he was a Cy Young finalist. He seemed to have turned a corner in May, but he fell back off in June, albeit ending the month with two ten-strikeout performances.
In 17 starts this year, Nola has a 4.22 ERA, 4.16 fielding-independent pitching, 1.365 WHIP, 2.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 1.3 home runs allowed per nine innings. All of these numbers are significantly worse than last year with his WHIP and FIP both being career worsts.
While Nola’s numbers are better after the first month of the season, he’s still a far cry from the pitcher he was in 2018 and even the second half of 2017.