The Phillies were eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday in a bullpen game started by Blake Parker. Aaron Nola matched up that evening against Max Scherzer as the Phillies fell to the Washington Nationals. That performance will be his last.
On Thursday, the Phillies announced that Nola would call it a season:
Aaron Nola will not start Sunday. His season is complete.
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) September 26, 2019
That means Nola finishes the season 13-7, with a 3.87 earned run average.
The Phillies made a point of starting Nola on four days rest, regardless of whether the Phillies had a day off. The Phillies went on to lose seven Aaron Nola starts in a row, including Tuesday. The stretch included mostly strong Nola starts, though numbers-wise, three of Nola's toughest starts came in that time.
The line for Tuesday looks like one of his poorer starts but it was better than it looked. Nola was charged with five earned runs in five and two-thirds innings on Tuesday. After issuing a walk to load the bases when Nola thought he had a strike out, Jared Hughes entered the game with the bases loaded and allowed all three runners to score, adding to Nola's final earned run line.
The Phillies could use any or all relievers on Sunday to close out the season. Unfortunately, the Phillies could need Sunday's win to avoid being either a .500 or losing team for 2019. Nola, however, begins his offseason now.
