Aaron Nola felt his neck tighten up about 45 minutes before first pitch Saturday night.
It put manager Rob Thomson, pitching coach Caleb Cotham and catcher J.T. Realmuto on high alert, and the Phillies even activated Ranger Suarez from the injured list pregame, a day early, in case he was needed for an emergency start.
There was no emergency because Nola felt good enough to pitch. And he didn’t just toe the slab, he delivered six scoreless innings against a Diamondbacks lineup that can hurt you with power and with speed.
“They said we’ll see what we get out of him tonight, essentially,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “We were a little worried, we didn’t know how much he was going to be available but obviously his neck felt good enough.
“I was on high alert in the bullpen just trying to watch his pitches and see if anything was moving differently or his stuff was different, but it was just as sharp as it normally is. Once the game started, I didn’t even really think about it again.”
Nola didn’t have his best command early but found a groove after ending the second inning by inducing a 4-6-3 double play. His velocity was up for a second consecutive start and averaged 92.2, more than 1 mph above his season average. He also had his cutter working for a second straight start and had one of his better curveballs, the pitch he utilized most to beat the D-backs in a 7-2 Phillies win.
“It says a lot,” Realmuto said. “He’s a competitor so if there’s a way for him to go out there and pitch, he’s gonna do it. He showed that tonight.”
Nola is not worried about the neck tightness and expects it to subside quickly. He felt it during the game on a few occasions but is fortunate that it’s the right side of his neck, not the left. The left side is the direction to which a right-handed pitcher like Nola cocks his head before delivering a pitch out of the stretch or when peering over to first base.
“Everything was normal. I felt it a little bit but it didn’t get any worse during the game,” Nola said. “I don’t think it’s gonna be any long-term, lingering kind of thing.
“Felt like it needed to pop and wouldn’t pop. Just a little tight on a couple of different movements but luckily it wasn’t to my left where I have to look toward the plate. If it was on the left side, it might have been a little bit different.”
Nola received seven runs of support, more than the Phillies had provided him all season. He has lowered his ERA in his last two starts from 6.43 to 4.61. His command is sharpening and he’s generating more finish to his pitches. All but one of his 18 outs Saturday night was a strikeout or groundout.
“I feel pretty good, all my pitches feel pretty good right now,” Nola said. “Getting ahead of the hitters better than I was the first few starts and putting ’em away when I need to.”
His next one will be Friday in Cleveland. The Phillies will start Ranger Suarez on Sunday to finish up the Diamondbacks series, then have Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo going in Tampa. Taijuan Walker has been moved to the bullpen, where he’ll be used as a longman or reliever who can pitch one-plus inning.
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