Aaron Nola To Be Shut Down For Two Weeks With Stress Reaction In Rib Cag

Bill Mazeroski Jersey Phillies right-hander is already on the injured list but wont be returning soon. Per , a recent MRI revealed a stre s reaction in his right rib cage. He wont throw for the next two weeks. Nola landed on the 15-day IL almost a month ago due to a sprained right ankle. Its unclear how or when he suffered this rib injury but its a notable setback for him. Even if hes healthy two weeks from now, it will have been about six weeks since his most recent game action. At that point, hell have to ramp back up into game shape. As noted by Gelb, its now po sible that Nola wont return until after the All-Star break. Prior to hitting the IL, Nola wasnt having his best season, with a 6.16 earned run average in nine starts. However, that may not have been entirely his fault. His 23.6% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate were fairly close to his previous levels, while his .348 batting average on balls in play and 68.7% strand rate were both to the unlucky side. ERA estimators like his 5.00 FIP and especially his 3.63 SIERA felt he deserved far better. He now wont get a chance to improve his numbers for a while. As he has been out of action, the Phils have endured their toughest stretch of the season. They have lost nine of their past eleven contests, dropping them to four games back of the Mets in the National League East. On paper, the Philadelphia rotation is strong even without Nola in it. They still have , , , and . However, Wheeler recently spent some time on the paternity list and Luzardos past two starts have been awful. Abels big league numbers are good so far but he literally has two starts under his belt. Ideally, that group can help the team right the ship in the coming weeks. If not, the Phils have some potential in-house pivots. Prospect is now healthy and putting up decent numbers in Triple-A, though he may have workload concerns after mi sing all of the previous two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. is currently in the bullpen and could return to the rotation, though getting stretched out midseason can be a challenge. The trade deadline is on July 31st, which may coincide with Nolas return to the big league club. Given the starting options the Phils already have on hand, trading for more help is probably not the top of their to-do list, but its always po sible that more injuries pop up or that Nola experiences another setback of some kind. Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images Canaan Smith-njigba Jersey