The Philadelphia Phillies‘ ascent up the National League East standings has come largely in spite of starting pitcher Aaron Nola.
Nola struggled again in the Phillies’ 9-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, which led manager Don Mattingly to open up about the work he, Nola and pitching coach Caleb Cotham are doing to right the frustrated right-handed starter.
Nola allowed eight hits and four runs over five innings and fell to 2-4 on the season. He’s allowed at least three runs in eight of his 10 starts this season and currently is sporting an unsightly 6.04 ERA.
The Phillies fell to 16-6 under Mattingly, and 4-6 in Nola’s starts even though they had won three straight of his outings despite his 6.05 ERA in May.
The loss also snapped Philadelphia’s six-series winning streak. The Phils will try to start a new trend when the Cleveland Guardians come to town this weekend.
Don Mattingly: Aaron Nola’s ‘Large Sample’ is ‘a Trend you Don’t Like’
Nola’s tough start to 2026 comes on the heels of his disastrous 2025 season, where he went 5-10 and finished with a 6.01 ERA in 17 major-league starts.
So when asked about Nola’s struggles, Mattingly offered a thoughtful response.
“I kind of take them all individually instead of taking the larger sample,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, the large sample is a little bit of a trend that you don’t like. But then you try to take each one individually. Is he getting better? Then, how do we help him? I know [Cotham] and the guys are always working on what we can do differently, what we can do better.
“He’s had a tougher time, for me, kind of staying consistent with his stuff and being able to make it through games.”
To Mattingly’s point, Nola has only thrown 50 2/3 innings in 10 starts and has recorded 15 outs or less seven times. But they’ll keep working on getting Nola turned around.
“We’ve talked about a lot of things,” Mattingly said. “We’ve talked about him pitching backward, doing different things, using his fastball more, using it less, maybe it’s using the changeup more, maybe the breaking ball.
“Each team presents its own set of challenges. I can’t say it’s one thing to flip the whole script. It’s game to game how his weapons are working, how he’s going to get through innings and limit any kind of damage.”
Aaron Nola is Being Hard on Himself
Nola’s sudden fall off has been hard for him to stomach. He was used to being the Phillies ace and among the best pitchers in the NL before cratering.
So when asked about his outing Wednesday, Nola was brutally honest.
“Nothing great, honestly,” Nola said, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
At least Nola could pin his 2025 struggles to injuries, since he had both a sprained ankle and right-rib-cage fracture. This season, Nola swears he feels good.
Yet, that could be more alarming for Phillies, since Nola’s stuff is now problematic. He’s allowing a .356 opposing batting average on balls in play, which is both unlucky and a consequence of his 92.4 mph average fastball velocity.
“It is harder,” Nola said. “But it’s the way the game is. I have to adjust to it better.”
Phillies’ Don Mattingly Sends Honest Message on Aaron Nola as Struggles Continue