The Morning Meeting: Is Something Wrong with Aaron Nola?

The NL East lost some games to weather yesterday, but went two for three in the games that were played

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola's velocity was down for a second straight start / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

It was a decent day for those NL East teams that did get to play, with the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins (!) winning yesterday, while the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets got rained out and will make it up in...late September.  

Let's look at what each team did yesterday, where they currently stand in the division as of this morning, and what today's game has in store. It's The Morning Meeting!

Who is winning the National League East right now?

(divisional standings as of April 11th)
Braves - 7-3 (.700), -- GB, +26 run diff
Phillies - 6-6 (.500), 2.0 GB, -8 run diff
Nationals - 5-7 (.417), 3.0 GB, -14 run diff
Mets - 4-7 (.364), 3.5 GB, -13 run diff
Marlins - 2-11 (.154), 6.5 GB, -30 run diff

Philly’s back to .500, and the Marlins are...still in last place, but they gained half a game in the standings thanks to their second win of the season! 

Game recaps from yesterday

Atlanta Braves & New York Mets

This game was preemptively postponed due to “pending inclement weather” in the area - rainfall amounts in and around Atlanta reached .63 inches in the late evening and early morning hours.  

Atlanta’s pushed back their rotation, so Allan Winans is still in line to start today, while the Mets are doing the same with Jose Quintana. 

Philadelphia Phillies 

Philly survived a late Cardinals rally to win 4-3 in Busch Stadium. J.T. Realmuto, one day after leaving the game due to taking a curveball in the throat, returned to the lineup and went 2-5 with two runs scored. 

Several out there are concerned about Aaron Nola - his numbers were fine, going six innings with two runs allowed on three hits, walking three and striking out three, but he gave up two homers and showed reduced fastball velocity (-3.4 mph) for the second straight start. 

I know everyone’s concerned about the velocity drop, given the recent rash of pitcher injuries, but having watched both starts, I think the weather has an outsized role in this. It was cold and rainy in St. Louis, and it was cold for his debut in Philly last week as well. He obviously had trouble gripping the ball yesterday, struggling to find individual baseballs that he could grip and throwing a LOT out of play, and never seemed comfortable in the conditions. I’m not worried just yet.  

UPDATE: As I suspected, Nola and Realmuto deliberately adjusted their game plan to account for the conditions, as confirmed by Nola himself.

Aaron Nola "dialed everything back on purpose."

Glad to find out the velo & spin were not the result of injury 🙏🏻

Appreciate @brewington1997 sending this over to me! https://t.co/DnYtLJfaKS pic.twitter.com/YgFsErSCoB

— The Commish (@CommishFilmRoom) April 11, 2024

Washington Nationals

San Francisco got their revenge on Washington, winning 7-1 in Oracle Park yesterday. The Nationals were held to only four hits (while striking out five times) and Patrick Corbin got SHELLED - seven runs on eleven hits in 5.2 innings, with only two strikeouts. 

Some of the “interim” veterans who are manning spots that’ll go to prospects later in the year played well, however, with Joey Gallo hitting a homer and Jesse Winker, who has showed surprising defense this season, stealing a bag.  

Miami Marlins

All hail Jake Burger, Miami’s slugger - the corner infielder hit a three-run homer as part of a four run 4th inning to power Miami to a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees yesterday evening. Ryan Weathers put up his best start of the season, going five scoreless innings with only three hits allowed, although he walked three and only struck out one. Despite adventurous relief outings from Bryan Hoeing (1.0 IP, one run) and Anthony Bender (0.1 IP, one run on one walk and one hit), Tanner Scott nailed down the five-out save and Miami picked up only their second win of the season. 

MVP's for Wednesday

Hitter: Miami’s Jake Burger - 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBIs
Pitcher: Miami’s Ryan Weathers - 5.0 IP, 3H, 0R, 3 BBs to 1 Ks 

Who's playing today?

Slim pickings today, with only two games across three teams in the division.

New York (Quintana) @ Atlanta (Winans) - 12:20 PM ET
Philly (Suárez) vs PIT (Jones) - 6:40 PM ET

Enjoy the games, everyone.