By: Tim Kelly, Managing Editor 
Though Aaron Nola struck out seven in Saturday's loss to the Kansas City Royals, he still gave up five runs and is in the midst of the worst stretch of his young big league career. In his past five starts, Nola is 0-5 and has allowed a combined 27 runs.
With this in mind, the Phillies have decided to shut Aaron Nola down until after the July 12 MLB All-Star Game, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki:
The Phillies hinted they could skip Aaron Nola's final start before the All-Star break, and they confirmed Sunday afternoon that they will.
Nola will not pitch Thursday in Colorado. Instead, he will pitch a simulated game and use the time to rest his body and clear his mind.
Nola missing this one start may actually benefit the Phillies in numerous ways. Beyond giving Nola a chance to hit the reset button on the season that he now has a 4.69 ERA in, it may help the Phillies later in the season. General manager Matt Klentak and pitching coach Bob McClure are among those in the organization that have suggested the Phillies will limit the innings of their young starters, which includes Nola, Eickhoff and Velasquez. So if the Phillies limit Nola's innings, even by a start now, it may become easier for them to shut someone like Eickhoff or Velasquez down at some point in September.
The Phillies ultimate hope in this move of course is that Nola pitches more like how he did in May, when he posted a 2.31 ERA, or even April, when his ERA was 3.55.
