Inside The Phillies

Phillies' Ace Nola Shut Down and Shut Out the Reds With His Nasty Curveball

Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola leaned on his elite curveball in a shutout of the Cincinnati Reds.

Leo Morgenstern

Phillies' Ace Nola Shut Down and Shut Out the Reds With His Nasty Curveball
Phillies' Ace Nola Shut Down and Shut Out the Reds With His Nasty Curveball /
In this story:

Speaking with the press after catching Aaron Nola's Thursday night shutout against the Cincinnati Reds, Garrett Stubbs brought up the righty's pitch mix. 

"Aaron Nola, I think, around the league is known for his curveball. But tonight he had more than just a curveball, and I think that that's probably a big reason why he got to complete the game."

It's hard to imagine Stubbs meant to call Nola a one-pitch pitcher, although his choice of words implies as much. These two have worked together enough for Stubbs to know how skilled Nola is.

Presumably, all the backup catcher really meant to say was that each one of Nola's pitches was working for him on Thursday. A strong pitch mix helped the 29-year-old miss bats and go deeper into the game without relying too heavily on his signature breaking ball. That much is certainly true.

Nola's sinker and his four-seam fastball both looked especially sharp, and he found success using his changeup against the lefties of the Reds' lineup. His approach kept Cincinnati's hitters off-guard all night. Stubbs had a point.

Yet funnily enough, Stubbs could have also made the exact opposite argument and still been completely right. For as good as Nola's other pitches were, his curveball was the star of game. Perhaps he didn't need to rely on his breaking ball as much as usual, but he did nonetheless. 

Nola most definitely could not have completed the game without it.

Staying Ahead With the Curve

Out of 101 total pitches, Nola threw his curveball 29 times. Of all those curves, only three were called balls. 

For a pitch that dips out of the strike zone so often, that's remarkable work. Indeed, 12 of those curves were well out of the zone, but Nola was able to trick opposing batters into swinging at nine of them.

Overall, the Reds swung at 20 of his 29 curveballs. They missed eight times, fouled off another seven, and put just five into the field of play. Only one landed for a hit. 

Those five balls in play had an average xBA of .058 (per Statcast). Even the one hit wasn't all that impressive. It came on a ground ball that just managed to find the right spot between where Bryson Stott and Edmundo Sosa were positioned. 

Of the 11 strikeouts Nola recorded, five came with his curveball as the putaway pitch. More than one Reds hitter walked away from the plate hanging his head after whiffing at a nasty curve.

Throwing the Right Pitch to the Right Batters

The curveball is Nola's most powerful weapon, and he has no issue using it against both lefties and righties. On Thursday, however, he chose to use it primarily to punish right-handed hitters. 

Of the 68 pitches Nola threw to righties, more than a third of them were curveballs. 23 went for strikes, while only one was called a ball. The Phillies starter just kept throwing the pitch, and the righties just kept on swinging.

Right-handers had a .100 BA and a .029 xBA on Nola's curve. They whiffed on 42.2% of their swings. Of the seven curves Nola threw to righties with two strikes, five resulted in a punch out.

The pitch was practically unhittable, and it mystified the Reds' righties all night. 

Garrett Stubbs was correct when he said Nola had "more than just a curveball" in his shutout performance. Against lefties in particular, Nola leaned on the rest of his arsenal to get the job done. He is far more than a one-pitch pitcher, and Stubbs certainly knows it. 

Even so, the catcher's words may have done a disservice to Nola's signature pitch. The curve didn't the job done on its own, but it was electric and easily the best pitch the Phillies ace had to throw. 

Nola's shutout was remarkable. And he couldn't have done it without an equally remarkable curve.

More From SI's Inside The Phillies:

  1. How Mike Trout Will Join the Phillies
  2. Why You Should Root for the Philadelphia Phillies to Lose a Few Games
  3. Have the Philadelphia Phillies Found Their Centerfielder of the Future?
  4. Could The Phillies Soon Be Playing in Wawa Park?
  5. 18-Year-Old Phillies Prospect is Making History
  6. How did Philadelphia end up with Citizens Bank Park?
  7. How the Phillie Phanatic Came to be America's Favorite Sports Mascot
  8. This Unlikely Draft Pick Could be the Final Piece in the Phillies Next Blockbuster Trade
  9. Picking the Phillies' All-Time Single Season Lineup
  10. Drawing Comparisons to Harper, Phillies Prospect Wilson is Heating Up

Make sure to follow Inside the Phillies on Substack and Twitter!

Published
Leo Morgenstern
LEO MORGENSTERN

Leo Morgenstern is a writer and editor for Inside the Phillies. He also writes for FanGraphs and Just Baseball, and his work has appeared on Pitcher List and Baseball Prospectus. He previously covered the Phillies for SB Nation's The Good Phight. You can follow him on Twitter @morgensternmlb.

Home/Opinions