Phillies put Aaron Nola on disabled list
The Phillies put pitcher Aaron Nola on the 15-day disabled list before Wednesday's game against the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park, and called up righthanded pitcher Phil Klein from triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Aaron Nola's first full-major league season may be finished due to an elbow strain and all indications point to Nola being replaced in the starting rotation by top pitching prospect Jake Thompson.
The Phillies placed Nola on the 15-day disabled with a right elbow strain before Wednesday night's game against San Francisco. He said he felt the discomfort during his last start, when he allowed three runs on July 28 in five innings and his fastball registered its lowest velocity of the season.
Nola told the team's trainers three days later as they boarded the bus to Atlanta's airport. He an MRI on Wednesday morning, which Nola said did not reveal ligament damage but just a "mild strain." It will be a challenge for Nola to return as there are just two months in the season and the Phillies will be wary to rush him back.
"If we shut him down for two or three weeks, by the time he builds himself back up, you're in the middle of September," manager Pete Mackanin said. "So that very well might be the case. He might be shut down for the season. That will be determined after his two weeks on the disabled list."
Nola was replaced on Wednesday by Phil Klein, a righthander who the Phillies claimed in June off waivers from Texas. He has pitched mostly in the majors as a reliever and is likely with the Phillies for one start.
Mackanin said it is a "good-solid guess" that Thompson will replace Klein. Thompson was unable to pitch Wednesday because he pitched last Sunday for triple-A Lehigh Valley. He is scheduled to pitch Friday for the IronPigs and has a 1.21 ERA in his last 11 starts.
Nola's trip to the disabled list could bring finality to a trying season. He has a 9.82 ERA in his last eight starts and battled through what the Phillies called a "dead-arm period." He was shut down before the All-Star break to give him an added respite but said on Wednesday that he did not feel any discomfort until his last start. Nola's first major-league season has been anything but easy.
"I hope it's not the end," Nola said. "I'm going to try everything I can to get back at the end of the year. Try not to rush anything and do the rehab the correct way and do what I need to do. I feel like I can build on some of the pains of this year, especially at the end of the first half and when I came back. Just try to build on those things and learn from them."