To understand why things have changed so dramatically, we can look at the Philadelphia Phillies’ difficulties in recent years.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, that began in 2025 with right-hander Aaron Nola. Nola was one of the better starters in Major League Baseball when he signed his contract. He was an All-Star who pitched the ball at a very high level on a daily basis and had been with the team for a long time.
On the other hand, things have not gone as planned for the right-hander in recent years, and his current contract, a seven-year, $172 million agreement, does not expire until 2030.
To put it mildly, the LSU deal is unquestionably one of the worst in baseball, if not the worst, at 32 years old.
The Philadelphia Phillies’ decision to re-sign Aaron Nola on a seven-year, $172 million contract seemed like a no-brainer, given his status as one of the game’s most consistent starters, but it has proved to be a huge blunder thus far. Nola allowed the most home runs in the league in 2024, had a 6. 01 ERA in an injury-shortened 2025 season, and currently has a 5. 14 ERA in eight starts this season, according to FanSided’s Zachary Rotman.
I’ve always believed that Nola would find a way to make things work again, but the previous two seasons have been disastrous. He hasn’t been able to strike out batters at a high rate, isn’t keeping runs down, and has even been hit by the home run ball a little too frequently.
He has an ERA+ of 76 over the last two seasons, a FIP of over 4. 5, and, to be honest, his time in Philadelphia has been a catastrophe since signing his deal.
