Why Nola feels ‘stronger' going into this Phillies spring training originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
So, here we are again. For the fourth year in a row, we sit here saying this city would be utterly disappointed if the Phillies didn’t at least get to the World Series in 2026.
If you’re the longest tenured Phillie, you know what it’s like during an 11-year playoff drought just as much as you know the electricity of starting a World Series game on the mound.
From tossing an average of 194 innings between 2021 and 2024 to throwing a total of just 94 1/3 in 2025, Aaron Nola is determined to have a bounce-back season on the bump in 2026.
Nola’s 2025 season was disappointing and injury riddled. He went 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA over nine starts before heading to the IL in May with a sprained ankle. He then suffered a stress fracture in his rib during his rehab assignment in June. He returned to the Phillies’ rotation in August, making eight more starts, only three of which he allowed fewer than four earned runs.
“Obviously, the ankle is kind of a lingering thing. … The worst is that I didn’t realize it was going to take as long as it did, and didn’t realize how much I really use [my ankle] pushing off on the mound and then rotating it,” Nola said on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Phillies Talk podcast. “So, I learned a lot from it and learned a lot about my body at the time.”
Nola said he felt 100 percent at the end of the 2025 season. In his last regular season start, he allowed just two hits and one earned run over eight innings. But even still, Nola made a change to his offseason routine to have a stronger start in Clearwater.
“The offseason was good,” he said. “I ramped up a little bit earlier, started everything a little bit early … Throwing and doing some workouts. Not get into it super fast, kind of slowly get into it. I usually take like two and a half months off [from] throwing just to let everything kind of repair and recover, but I felt good doing it early. I felt stronger coming into spring training.”
As things ramp up toward the regular season, expectations are as high as ever. Many would say this was a disappointing offseason, despite the Phillies re-signing crucial veterans Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.
But Nola knows this team is capable of winning a World Series.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” he said. “This is a great group. We all know it, too. And I know people wanted to see new faces in there, but we’ve got a really good team in, and we brought J.T. and Kyle back for a reason. I mean, they’re core guys and unbelievable teammates and players that we need.”
The Phillies are a 95-win ballclub. They’ve won consecutive NL East division titles. But that wasn’t always the case. If there’s anyone who can attest to that, it’s the guy who’s been through it every step of the way.
“I can’t speak for everybody but myself coming up in this organization’s rebuilding, some years [you’d be] coming into spring training probably knowing that you’re not going to make the playoffs,” Nola said. … “And kind of in those middle years of my tenure, I thought, ‘Yeah, we’ve got a chance to make the playoffs.’ … And then it comes August or September, we’re out of it.
“Then we finally [get over] that hump in 2022 and get hot. Nobody expected us to get to the World Series and make it to that Game 6,” Nola continued. “But I think the expectations now are yeah, we know we’re a good team. We know we’re going to win a lot of games, but we still got to go out and do it.”
That’s all they have to do. Be consistent, produce, stay healthy. But with a veteran-heavy ballclub, it’s not always that simple.
“It’s obviously not going to be easy,” Nola said. “It’s not a guarantee we’re going to win a division and get to the playoffs. We’ve got to stick to our plans and play like we usually do. We know how to because we know how to play with each other. I think that helps us out a lot, being with each other after all these years.”
Watch the full interview with Aaron Nola on Phillies Talk: