PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out when you start getting in your rotation how it lines up,” Phillies Manager Joe Girard said Monday, shortly after officially announcing that Aaron Nola is slated to be the Opening Day starter April 1 at Citizens Bank Park against the Atlanta Braves.
The public expectation was that Nola would get the nod. And Girardi says he assumed Nola knew, too, based on when his starts were in spring training.
"I saw him walking [in today]," Girardi said. "He was by himself, and I said, 'Look, you’re starting Game 1. You probably knew that, and you could read between the lines, but I just need to tell you because I’m gonna tell the media today.'"
It also doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this will be Nola’s fourth Opening Day start in a row, which hasn’t happened since Phillies icon and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton pitched 10 consecutive in the '70s and '80s.
Nola said that was pretty cool.
"I guess I never thought that I’d be up on the list with him. Big honor, obviously. Looking forward to it," he said.
By the numbers, Nola hasn’t had a great spring training. That shouldn't necessarily be cause for alarm. Pitchers sometimes work on new things. He entered Monday night’s Grapefruit League game against the New York Yankees with a 10.38 ERA and only five strike outs over 8 2/3 innings pitched in his three previous spring training outings. However, Nola was dealing against the Yanks — fitting, considering the unsurprising announcement from Girardi only hours earlier.
Nola struck out nine, while allowing one hit with no walks over six scoreless innings in the Phils' 4-0 win over New York.
Nola and Girardi credited his fastball command for his sensational performance against the Yankees.
"That’s as good as I’ve seen him," Girardi said. "He was dominant. He had command on both sides of the plate with his fastball. His breaking ball was outstanding. He threw changeups that were really good. He was in total control the whole night."
Nola will face Atlanta on Opening Day. He is 1-2 in his previous three starts, two of which were against Atlanta.
"My thoughts are always that, obviously, I’m honored to get the nod, but we got a lot of starts after that. I just hope to put the team in a good chance to win on Opening Day and just looking forward to my next outing to stay on top of things."