How Alec Bohm and Aaron Nola fared for Phillies in their returns from long absences
The Phillies thought they were getting healthier this weekend with the returns of Alec Bohm and Aaron Nola, also avoiding a scare with Jhoan Duran on Friday night only to learn on Saturday that Zack Wheeler, arguably the most important figure in the entire organization, has a blood clot near his right shoulder that will sideline him for an undetermined length of time.
It’s brutal news and it makes every other player on the roster that much more important, including Bohm and Nola, who both returned in Sunday’s tense 11-9 win.
Bohm had a huge game, hitting a two-out, three-run homer off lefty Mitchell Parker in the second inning to double the Phillies’ lead. It proved necessary because Nola gave all six runs back in the top of the third, lasting just 2 1/3 innings as his ERA rose even higher to 6.92.
Nola’s short start forced the Phillies to cover the third through seventh innings with Tanner Banks, Joe Ross and Matt Strahm. Rob Thomson tried to push Max Lazar for the final six outs but Lazar allowed hard contact and three runs in the ninth, forcing Duran into action. Duran closed it out and looked healthy in his first appearance since taking a comebacker to the leg Friday night.
Bohm missed 26 games with a left rib fracture. Nola missed three months with a combination of an ankle sprain and a stress fracture in his right rib. They’ll be crucial for different reasons over the next two months. The Phillies are simply a different offense when Bohm is chugging along as a line-drive machine and delivering with runners in scoring position as he has for the bulk of his career. And they desperately need Nola to recapture some of his past success and be the right-handed option in between their three lefty starters if Wheeler is unavailable in the playoffs.
Big innings have plagued Nola throughout his career and especially in his 10 starts this season. Sunday followed the pattern with two quick ones ahead of a third-inning unraveling. He still has enough time to pitch himself into a rhythm but in the span of a week, that conversation went from, “It would be nice if Nola is himself come October” to “the Phillies need him to be himself come October.”
Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper reached base a combined eight times to catalyze the lineup and Nick Castellanos had his best day in quite a while, homering and doubling deep down the left-field line. He had been 1-for-38 prior to those two at-bats and without a multi-hit game since August 1.
The Phillies are home Monday for three games with the Mariners after their longest road trip of the season. They’ll see two tough right-handers in the series in Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo before facing these same Nationals again for a weekend set.