Phillies May Have Albatross Contract Developing on Pitching Staff

The Philadelphia Phillies have a concern brewing with their pitching staff when it comes to the contract of a starter.

May 9, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola (27) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. | David Richard-Imagn Images

Coming into the 2025 MLB regular season, the Philadelphia Phillies were thought to have the best starting rotation by many people in the baseball world.

Through their first 62 games of the season, they have proven those believers to be correct. The team has received excellent contributions from most of the players who have toed the rubber as a starter.

Zack Wheeler once again looks like a Cy Young contender in the National League. Prior to his last two starts, Jesus Luzardo did as well, but he got lit up by the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays, surrendering 20 earned runs in 5.2 innings.

Even with the hiccup, the Phillies have more than enough depth with Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez both performing at All-Star levels again.

Philadelphia received some strong starts from Taijuan Walker after a disastrous 2024 campaign and former top prospect Mick Abel has been excellent since taking over a spot in the rotation.

In the near future, their current top prospect, Andrew Painter, will be joining the mix as well.

The Phillies are fortunate to have the starting pitching depth they do, because an unexpected obstacle arose this season.

Aaron Nola, who has been one of the most reliable starting pitchers durability and productivity wise, for the last seven years has suffered a drastic drop off.

He was struggling to produce, recording a 6.16 ERA through his first 49.2 innings before landing on the injured list with an ankle ailment.

Aaron Nola's Contract Could Become Concern for Phillies

Unfortunately, things aren’t getting better and another mystery ailment has arisen, which will keep him sidelined for the foreseeable future.

It is the first time since 2017 that Nola has landed on the injured list, as he made at least 32 starts in six consecutive 162-game campaigns coming into the 2025 season.

This is something worth keeping an eye on, with Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report listing Nola’s performance as one of the bad reasons when assessing the team’s grade through the first 62 games of the year.

“Even with a strong rotation, it's definitely concerning that the aforementioned Nola had a 6.16 ERA in nine starts. The longest-tenured Phillie is in just the second year of a seven-year, $172 million deal,” he wrote.

That contract could quickly become quite the albatross for the franchise to deal with should Nola not be able to regain his form.

There were no signs of slowing down in 2024, but the developments in 2025 are concerning for a pitcher who turned 32 years old on June 4 and has five years left on a long-term contract.