The Philadelphia Phillies expect to welcome back one of their star pitchers on Sunday, a day after they placed another on the injured list.
Aaron Nola will make his long-awaited return to the rotation on as the Phillies vie for a split of their four-game series against the host Washington Nationals.
Nola (1-7, 6.16 ERA) is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list to make his first start with Philadelphia since May 14. The right-hander went on the injured list two days later with a sprained right ankle, and then dealt with a stress fracture in his right rib cage.
Nola fared well in his third rehab outing with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, striking out 11 batters in 5 2/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday in Buffalo, N.Y.
“It felt good to get the pitch count up a little bit and get back in the sixth inning,” Nola said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “The arm feels great; the ankle feels good. I’m glad to be able to finally get back on the field and catch and throw normally. I’m just excited to get back on the mound again for these guys and give them a chance to win again.”
The National League East-leading Phillies would like that very much, given that they lost for the fourth time in five games with a 2-0 setback to Washington on Saturday afternoon.
Philadelphia was unable to solve Cade Cavalli, as the latter tossed seven scoreless innings to pocket his first win of his career. James Wood slapped a two-run double with two outs in the fifth inning to provide all the offense that Cavalli would need.
Shortly after that defeat, the Phillies announced ace right-hander Zack Wheeler is headed to the 15-day injured list due to a blood clot in his right arm. There is no timetable for his return.
“There’s not a lot that we can say on it at this time,” said Dave Dombrowski, the team’s president of baseball operations. “It could have been a much more trying situation than it is.”
As for Nola, he is one season removed from recording 14 wins — his most since he erupted for 17 in 2018.
Nola, 32, allowed two homers and five runs total on six hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 5-1 setback at Washington on March 30. He is 10-9 with a 3.75 ERA in 34 career appearances (all starts) versus the Nationals.
Nola may not be the only returning member of the Phillies, as third baseman Alec Bohm also is expected to be recalled from Lehigh Valley. Bohm has been sidelined since July 19 with a rib fracture.
Trea Turner recorded his second three-hit performance of the series on Saturday. The speedy Turner is 8-for-14 in the set.
Washington left-hander Mitchell Parker (7-13, 5.55) will be tasked with keeping Turner in check when he starts Sunday’s game.
Parker, 25, got the better of Nola in that game on March 30. The former scattered seven hits and struck out five batters over 6 1/3 scoreless innings to get the win on that day.
All told, Parker is 1-1 with a bloated 8.68 ERA in 9 1/3 innings over two career encounters versus the Phillies.
He hasn’t fared well of late, going 0-3 with a 10.67 ERA in three starts this month. He allowed just two hits — albeit with five runs — in 5 1/3 innings in an 8-5 setback to the Royals in Kansas City on Tuesday.
“It still (stinks). It’s still a loss,” Parker said. “I gave up a couple runs and set them in motion to kind of run away with it.”