Aaron Nola is the No. 2 overall prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, according to Baseball America, and he's poised to make an impact in the MLB soon enough. Is that time coming in 2015?
The 21-year-old delivered yet again on Wednesday and shut down the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate), giving up only four hits and a walk over seven innings en route to a 4-0 victory for the Fightin Phils.
Nola improved to 6-2 with the win and now owns a 1.54 ERA, 0.816 WHIP and 39 strikeouts in eight starts (52 2/3 innings).
His performance was certainly opportunistic because both Phillies' president Pat Gillick and general manager Ruben Amaro were in attendance giving the right-hander a look as they work to rebuild the organization's MLB roster. Amaro said he didn't want to rush any of the talented young pitchers at Double-A, but Nola is clearly making that difficult.
"He's right where he needs to be right now," Amaro told Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We'll continue to assess, and when we feel like it's the time to move him, we'll move him.
"He just needs experience. There are some things that we'll continue to assess with him and continue to watch him develop with. He obviously was a very polished pitcher coming out of school, and when it's time for us to bring him to triple A, we'll do that."
Breen noted the Phillies had the chance to promote Nola to Triple-A Lehigh Valley over the weekend, but opted to go with a couple of other minor-league veterans.
However, Amaro can't show his hand, so of course he's going to make a conservative statement about the 2014 first-round draft pick. Nola is out-performing fellow talented starters Zach Eflin, Jesse Biddle and Ben Lively at Double-A, all of whom are viewed as the future of the Phillies.
So when will they move Nola up?
"Whenever they think it's the right time," the youngster told Breen. "I'm just focusing on the next day. Coming out here and throwing tomorrow. Focus on the next start. If it's here, it's here."
He's definitely got the mindset for a starting pitcher, one that requires astute focus and concentration. The Phillies could eventually use that on their 25-man roster, where their rotation consists of Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang, Jerome Williams and Sean O'Sullivan. Hamels and Harang are expected to be traded at some point because they're of no use to the 18-24 Phillies and should provide a good return in a deal.
The rumors will keep swirling about Nola's eventual promotion, but at this point it's unclear. While the Phillies opted to keep him in Double-A over the weekend, it's certainly a good sign that Gillick and Amaro watched him pitch yesterday because it's clear the MLB roster needs their young arms to make an impact soon.
Don't be surprised if Nola makes his MLB debut in 2015.
