It certainly has been a forgettable season for Philadelphia Phillies' starter Aaron Nola. He's missed a lot of time dealing with injuries, but with Zack Wheeler missing the remainder of this season, Nola is being relied on to be the right-handed anchor of the starting rotation.
However, he has only made 13 starts and has an ERA of 6.78 in 69 innings. He's given up 81 hits, 15 of which have gone for home runs, in those 13 starts. It could be the injury bug, or time is catching up to him, but Aaron Nola is really starting to hurt the Phillies when he takes the ball every fifth day.
Former Phillies all-star did not hold back in addressing Nola's struggles
Former three-time all-star (All with Phillies) Lenny Dykstra sent a strong message to the Phillies regarding Aaron Nola:
"How many more years til the @Phillies figure out Nola sucks? 🧐"
Dykstra said this in a tweet on Wednesday, and he was straight to the point with it. Dykstra has been known for his edgy comments since retiring from baseball, but as a clear Phillies fan, you can see Nola's struggles are becoming concerning.
Dykstra played eight seasons with the Phillies from 1989-1996, where he hit 51 home runs with the team, was named an all-star three times, and had a bWAR of 25.9 with Philadelphia. Once a great player, Dykstra now has an issue with the Phillies' front office continuing to trust Aaron Nola.
However, this season may just be an anomaly for Nola. His career ERA is 3.83, and he had an ERA of 3.57 last season over 33 starts. Nola was an all-star in 2018, but has had many other all-star caliber seasons, and has been known to elevate his level of pitching in the postseason. The question now is whether or not the Phillies will trust him this postseason to take the ball. The Phillies' rotation is really southpaw-heavy, and the right-handed options would be either Nola or Taijuan Walker.