Aaron Nola Is Great & The Phillies Bullpen Stinks!

 

When looking at the final score of the most recent Phillies game against the Atlanta Braves without having watched the game itself one would assume that the Phils won an entertaining shoot-out. In actuality it was really a blow out win and another pitching gem by ace Aaron Nola, whose clearly returning to more like his 2018 form as one of the National League’s best pitchers.

So how exactly could it be a gem for Nola when Atlanta scored 8 runs? Because instead letting him attempt his first career complete game after 89 pitches, manager Joe Girardi decided let his ace rest and hand Nick Pivetta the ball to finish the game with a comfortable 13-1 lead. While playing it safe and pulling Nola maybe disappointing but understandable, considering their 12 run advantage, the whole team’s momentum may have been better off had they just let him finish the game. Because Nola after 89 pitches appeared to be more reliable in protecting that lead than a rested Nick Pivetta, who surrendered six earned runs to the Braves and recorded only one out.

The Nick Pivetta fan club suffered a huge blow with that inning, and the maligned bullpen that was supposed to get an off night of criticism with a blow out win and no pressure may have had their worst night yet. These Twitter responses say it all:

With two outs left Girardi finally pulled out Pivetta and put in Trevor Kelley who gave up another run but did record the final two outs to secure a 13-8 Phillies win. Prompting what was initially a party-type of win into this response:

So what this game taught us is that Aaron Nola is great, pitching a two-hitter with 10 strike outs in 8 innings. And apparently he also needs the luxury of a 12 run lead in order to get a Win, because this is somehow his first Win since August 20, 2019, 355 days! Jacob deGrom is probably envious.

This game also showed that even in a blowout win, the bullpen is still that bad. Madson, Romero and Lidge this is not. If there’s any Number 1 reason as to why the Phillies potentially miss the playoffs this year, the bullpen will be the top spot. On the contrary, the Nationals won the World Series last year despite having one of the worst bullpens in the lead.

And for the Pivetta fans who are down right now, don’t forget this:

By Mike McCarrick | August 10, 2020
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