Philadelphia Phillies: Aaron Nola is pitching like a Cy Young candidate

Aaron Nola is pitching like a Cy Young candidate for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Just a few game into the 2020 MLB season and one thing has become increasingly clear: Aaron Nola is straight up in his bag this year. The Philadelphia Phillies ace has a 2.79 ERA and a 0.621 WHIP through three starts so far. He’s recorded back to back double digit strikeout games against two of the best offenses in the league, and he’d likely be 3-0 had the Phillies put together a competent bullpen during the offseason.

During Nola’s lone All-Star season of 2018, the southern born right-hander finished third in the National League Cy Young voting, behind Jacob DeGrom and Max Scherzer. Even though he was unable to capture the elusive award that season, Nola’s performance that season was one of the best we’ve seen from a Phillies pitcher since the Halladay-Lee-Hamels-Oswalt days.

Across 33 total starts, Nola went 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA and a 0.975 WHIP. He recorded 224 strikeouts on the year and overall had his way with opposing lineups.

Despite setting career highs in a handful of categories the following season, Nola did in fact take a bit of a step back in 2019. His ERA and WHIP spiked up, and he failed to earn an All-Star game nomination. While he undoubtedly still had moments of brilliance, there were some quiet concerns creeping up that maybe we had already seen the best Nola had to offer.

While we’re only three starts into Nola’s 2020 campaign, those worries have all but vanished. After a somewhat rocky Opening Day start against the Marlins, where he allowed four runs in just 5.1 innings (the bullpen did him no favors in this one), Nola has settled right back into his 2018 self.

The Phillies ace threw six innings of one run ball against the New York Yankees in his second start, tying his career high of 12 strikeouts in a game. Despite the Yankees arguably having the best offensive lineup in the MLB, they were simply no match for Nola’s arsenal.

In his third start, Nola somehow outdid his previous performance. He went eight innings against the Atlanta Braves, allowing just two hits and a run, while striking out ten. Fans were desperate for Nola to push through nine innings to get his first ever complete game, but manager Joe Girardi opted to preserve his health instead.

With that stunning Braves performance, Nola became the first Philadelphia Phillies pitcher to post a start of 8+ innings pitched, two or fewer hits allowed, and 10+ strikeouts since Cole Hamels way back in 2015. Anytime your name is being mentioned in the same breath as 2008 World Series MVP Hamels, you’re definitely doing something right.

It’s still relatively early into the 2020 season, but Nola definitely seems to be in a bit of a groove. His fastball is painting corners left and right, his knuckle curve is snapping like crazy, and his changeup is causing all sorts of whiffs. If the former LSU ace keeps this up, he should absolutely find his name in the Cy Young conversation by the end of the year.