Phillies' $172 Million Blunder is Starting to Reverse Course

Earlier this season, Aaron Nola was beginning to look like one of the Philadelphia Phillies' biggest mistakes of the decade, if not longer.

The Phillies signed the right-handed pitcher to a seven-year, $172 million extension in November 2023, a deal that runs all the way through 2030.

Nola's first year after signing the contract was good, as he posted a 3.57 ERA over 33 starts in 2024. He looked like Aaron Nola.

But then, last season, the 33-year-old came apart at the seams, registering a 6.01 ERA across 17 outings. That continued through much of 2026, as Nola owned a 6.04 ERA through the end of June.

Nola's contract was beginning to look like an albatross, but then, slowly but surely, the veteran has begun re-establishing himself as a critical piece of the starting rotation.

The righty recorded a much more respectable 4.34 ERA in July, and while he went 0-4 in five starts, he was at least trending in a positive direction performance-wise.

Then came August, where Nola appeared to find the fountain of youth.

Nola pitched to the tune of a 2.65 ERA last month, racking up 41 strikeouts over 34 innings. His 10.9 K/9 was his best mark of any month since September 2024, and he went 3-1 across six starts.

Most recently, the former first-round pick dealt five innings of one-run ball in a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night, trimming his ERA down to 4.93 on the year.

Nola is averaging 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings this season, his best mark since 2022 when he finished fourth in NL Cy Young award voting. And while he is incredibly home-run prone, having coughed up 32 long balls in 2026, you take the good with the bad.

At this point, Philadelphia is just looking for some positive production from Nola given how horrendous that contract was looking, and Nola has delivered.

Is it sustainable? It remains to be seen, but there is no question that he looks like a different pitcher now than he did a few months ago.

Perhaps all Nola needed was to regain his confidence, and it seems like has done that.

Now, the Baton Rouge native has suddenly become an important swing piece for the Phillies come playoff time. Philadelphia might be able to trust him to start a big game, and it could also use him out of the bullpen.

Would the Phillies still like to have that extension back? Probably, but at least Nola is giving them something down the stretch this season.