Aaron Nola Showing Signs of Improvement for Phillies

Aaron Nola is starting to figure things out for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Jun 2, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Coming into the 2026 MLB regular season, the Philadelphia Phillies biggest strength was expected to be their pitching staff, more specifically, the starting rotation.

Since Zack Wheeler has returned to the mix in place of Taijuan Walker, who was released after being ineffective, the rotation has been a strength more often than not. He and Cristopher Sanchez are a dominant one-two punch, and Jesus Luzardo has had flashes of dominance.

Andrew Painter and Aaron Nola have provided mixed results, to put it nicely, overall. But, there have been signs of turning things around for both, with pitch mix being a major reason why.

Nola continued showcasing improvements for a second consecutive start, both of which have come against the San Diego Padres. On May 26, he fired six effective innings, allowing only two runs on three hits and zero walks, adding five strikeouts.

Aaron Nola puts together second strong start against Padres

It was the third time in five starts that he didn’t issue a walk, a major turn of events with how much he struggled with location early in the season. In the most recent start against the Padres on June 2, he continued that trend.

Nola put together another strong outing, allowing only two earned runs on four hits, and didn’t issue a walk. The long ball continues to be a bit of an issue, as the only runs scored against him were courtesy of a two-run homer by Gavin Sheets.

Those were the only runs San Diego scored in the game, and Nola added eight strikeouts. What is contributing to this recent turnaround? As shared by Joseph Cammisa on X, the veteran righty has adjusted his pitch mix.

He was struggling mightily with his fastball, unable to consistently locate it. It was leading to some tough situations to work through, falling behind batters and putting them in advantageous counts.

Aaron Nola continues to look good: .175 BAA, 0 BBs, 13 Ks in last 11.0 IP

But that’s three starts in a row now where he’s starting to run w/ that heavy KC (39%) + sinker (31%) mix + killing the 4S usage (13.7%) even vs. a RH dominate SD lineup

Command look strong (SI to the… pic.twitter.com/p7WJk2drg6

— Joseph Cammisa (@jmcammisa) June 3, 2026

They took full advantage, crushing his fastball. Not being able to locate doesn’t always mean issuing a lot of walks. Sometimes, it means missing in the zone, and Nola was doing that a lot with opponents pouncing on a fastball that wasn’t featuring as much life as in years past.

While the fastball wasn’t working, his curveball was as effective as ever; he just couldn’t get to counts to use it often enough. As Cammisa noted, that usage has flipped, with Nola working it into the mix more often and scaling back his four-seam fastball usage.

The results, through two starts, have been excellent. If Nola can consistently give the Phillies an effective five or six innings, it completely changes their outlook. He wasn’t giving the team much of a chance to win games; he took the mound early on, but that is hopefully changing with his repertoire adjustments.