Charlie Manuel Is Not Worried About Aaron Nola’s Performance
Aaron Nola did not have the best of starts to his season. On Opening Day, he blew a 5-run lead, leading to the Phillies losing to the Rangers. Fans instantly harkened back to his performance in the World Series last year, leading to a day of nervous fans questioning if the Phillies Ace will have another good year or not. Well Nola has at least on person in his camp. Because when Charlie Manuel joined The Anthony Gargano Show this week, he seemed very confident that this was just a blip on the radar for Nola.
"Nola is going to be fine. It is just a matter of getting more games under his feet. They just happened to get to him in that one inning." - @CMBaseball41
— 97.5 The Fanatic (@975TheFanatic) March 31, 2023
And as Charlie mentioned, it was just one inning that gave Nola problems. But it was a really bad inning. After going 3 scoreless, he coughed up 5, which eventually spiraled into another 4 runs given up by the bullpen. What could have led to Nola going off such a steep cliff in the 4th inning after sailing through the first 3? Charlie had some perspective on what he thought the issue was.
"I don't want to speculate, but that could definitely cause you to speed up and get you rushing." - @CMBaseball41 on the idea of the pitch clock having an impact on Aaron Nola yesterday
— 97.5 The Fanatic (@975TheFanatic) March 31, 2023
The pitch clock could be an adjustment for some pitchers. Especially guys like Nola who LOVE to take their sweet time on the mound. We will see if Nola gets more comfortable with the peace across his next few starts. But it is probably something worth keeping an eye on with him.
Fans will likely have to see much more to have their faith restored in Nola. Especially after his lackluster performances in the NLCS and World Series last year. It is a contract year for Nola. And he apparently wants a massive deal. He is going to need to show a lot more than he did on Opening Day if that is the type of deal he wants.