Phillies Should Be Encouraged Following Great Outing by Aaron Nola

Here's why the Philadelphia Phillies should be encouraged by the recent performance of Aaron Nola.

May 26, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. | David Frerker-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies were able to win their second straight game against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night by a score of 4-3. With the win, the Phillies have already taken the series and will have their eyes on a sweep on Wednesday afternoon. 

Before the game, Philadelphia made a major lineup change to try to give their lineup a jolt. Manager Don Mattingly moved Kyle Schwarber into the leadoff spot and dropped Trea Turner to the two-hole. 

While Schwarber has been playing fantastic of late, this seemed like a move geared toward helping Turner. The move seemingly paid off with Turner hitting a monster home run in the game, and hopefully that will be a sign of things to come. 

As the lineup continues to try to improve, they did enough to get the win on Tuesday. However, the real story for the team was who was on the mound. Veteran right-hander Aaron Nola has not been pitching well this season, and there has been plenty of reason to be concerned about his performance. Fortunately, despite struggling a lot late, he put together a great performance on Tuesday in the win. 

Nola Has Strong Performance

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola | David Frerker-Imagn Images

It has been no secret that Nola has not been the pitcher the Phillies have been paying him to be for the last two years. The right-hander was once considered to be a top-of-the-rotation guy, but those days have felt long gone. However, Nola put together a strong performance against the Padres, and maybe it will be something he can build upon. 

In his third win of the year, the right-hander went six innings, allowing just two runs on three hits. The only mistake that Nola made came in the fourth inning to Manny Machado, who hit a two-run home run. 

Considering he had allowed 13 runs in his previous three starts, expectations coming into this one were low. However, he put together a quality start, and it was encouraging to see. With some slight tweaks to his pitch selection that mainly featured throwing his fastball less, Nola had one of his better outings of the year. Furthermore, his ERA to a nice drop from 6.04 to 5.72

Next up for Nola will be another scheduled start against the Padres, this time on Monday at home next week. Following this strong performance, it will be interesting to see if it is going to be something that he can build upon.