Phillies put struggling Aaron Nola on 15-day IL with right ankle sprain
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday with a sprained right ankle.
The 31-year-old veteran has struggled this season and is coming off an outing against St. Louis on Wednesday in which he allowed 12 hits, nine runs and three homers — all career highs — in a 14-7 loss.
Nola originally injured the ankle while doing agility work in the outfield in Tampa last Thursday. He made two starts since, and said the ankle bothered him to the point he was overcompensating elsewhere in his body.
“I did feel like I had to overcompensate a bit,” Nola said. “It did get a little bit better last game, but it was putting a little more stress on my back just because I wasn’t able to rotate my foot like I usually do.”
The Phillies chose to put Nola on the injured list to avoid another injury cropping up while he was favoring the ankle.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he doesn’t expect this to be a long stint for Nola, who aside from a 10-day stint on the COVID injury list in 2021, hasn’t missed a start since 2017.
“Obviously, I never want to go on the IL,” Nola said. “As a competitor, I’m here to pitch. I’ve pitched through stuff before and little things haven’t affected me. I thought this was going to subside by now, but it hasn’t really. It’s frustrating.”
For the season, Nola is 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA in nine starts. In 11 seasons with Philadelphia, Nola is 105-86 with a 3.78 ERA.
The Phillies recalled right-hander Daniel Robert from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Nola’s roster spot. Robert was acquired from Texas in a trade on April 30. Pitching prospect Mick Abel will be recalled to make a spot start on Sunday and the Phillies will make a corresponding move at that time.
Taijuan Walker, who pitched three innings in relief of Nola on Wednesday, will take Nola’s actual turn in the rotation next Wednesday in Colorado.
Philadelphia begins a three-game series against visiting Pittsburgh on Friday night.
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