The Phillies’ Aaron Nola pitches in Skechers. They fit him perfectly.

Aaron Nola lived for an offseason in a van, enjoys fishing, opted for pen and paper instead of a keyboard to write a thank-you note to Philadelphia, and shows so little emotion on the mound that it was notable two seasons ago when he simply tipped his cap to the crowd. Nola is a simple man.

So perhaps it makes sense that he is pitching this season in Skechers, a simple shoe more likely to be worn in the stands than on the pitcher’s mound every fifth day.

“I think it’s fitting for Noles,” said Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs.

Nola started wearing Skechers this season after the company — long known for selling supportive sneakers, uses Tony Romo to sell slip-ons, and calls itself “The Comfort Technology Company” — decided to expand its baseball portfolio. Bryce Harper wears his own Under Armour cleat, Chase Utley wore Adidas, Jimmy Rollins often sported Jordans, and Nola wears the brand he remembers as a kid for being “the old white shoe with the old S.”

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Mike Schmidt wore Nikes during his Hall of Fame career but now swears by the Skechers he wears every weekend in the broadcast booth. Nola agrees. Even the Sixers’ Joel Embiid is wearing Skechers now as he won an Olympic gold medal in the “S” earlier this month.

“This is a different ‘S’ nowadays,” Nola said. “They changed their ‘S’ a little bit. It’s a little cooler.”

The Skechers cleats are sharper than those old sneakers Nola remembered as a kid. He has them in different colors to match every uniform he wears and even helped design them.

Skechers does not yet sell the cleats, but it has five big leaguers wearing them, — including Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has worn them since 2019. The brand is expanding into other sports, too, as Harry Kane, the English soccer superstar, signed a lifetime deal last year to play in Skechers boots. They have deals with NBA and WNBA players and even produce a pickleball shoe. The company, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, makes more than just comfortable shoes.

“It’s our mission to deliver ‘Comfort that performs’ to athletes in a growing range of sports, and top competitors around the world have been turning to Skechers to elevate their game with our products,” said Skechers president Michael Greenberg. “It’s really taken off quickly over a short period of time as elite players competing in our shoes inspire others in their leagues to embrace Skechers.”

For Nola, Skechers are perfect. Of course they are. And it didn’t take long for his teammates to catch on. They nicknamed him “Sketch” in spring training and asked, “What are those?”

“They did,” Nola said. “They’re like, ‘I can’t believe you’re wearing Skechers.’ But after I got a couple in, they were like, ‘They’re kind of sweet, man.’ Well, yeah, dude. You have to get over the old-school S.”

Nola is not flashy like a pair of Nikes as he challenges batters with precision and command instead of an overpowering fastball. But he’s dependable like a pair of Skechers. He has spent just 10 days on the injured list over the last seven seasons, has logged more innings (733⅓) than any pitcher since 2021, rarely misses a start, and is the type of pitcher a team feels comfortable about signing to a seven-year contract. His production is usually near the top of the National League and he has an ERA (3.45) this season that is a run better than last year. It’s gotta be the shoes.

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“I think of the Shape-ups and what everyone makes fun of,” Stubbs said when asked what he thinks of when he thinks of Skechers. “But from the cleats I’ve seen him wear, they’re pretty awesome.”

Nola wore Nikes for his first two seasons but said the cleats gave him toe discomfort. Injured in 2016, Nola found an old pair of Adidas cleats while rehabbing in Florida that former reliever Héctor Neris had discarded. He wore them for a season, but then the company wanted him to wear its new model. No thanks, Nola said, as they were too heavy.

He endorsed 3N2 Sports in 2018, and the company gave him so many cleats that season that Nola wore them into 2022. Nola wore Mizuno cleats the last two seasons before teaming up with Skechers as his quest for a cleat continued.

“I just want a comfortable cleat that makes my feet feel good and doesn’t hurt so I don’t have to go on the injured list for a foot or something,” said Nola, who became a father in March and sounds like one. “If I have a cleat I like, I just stick with it. I don’t really care about all the other stuff that comes with it.”

Michael Lorenzen pitched a no-hitter last season in Vans after feeling that the usual shoe companies were not making baseball cleats the way they used to. So the former Phillie pitches in skateboard sneakers. Nola felt the same way. He knows pitchers who have endorsement deals with typical cleat companies but have to wear shoes that were designed for an outfielder. Nola’s glove is designed for a pitcher. Why not his cleats?

“We do two completely different things,” Nola said of a pitcher and a position player. “We’re pretty much in one area. Those guys are running around the whole field. It should be different, and I think that’s where Skechers has been so great with it because I got to make a pitcher-specific cleat.”

Skechers allowed Nola to design the bottom of his cleat, and he told the shoemaker where he wanted the spikes to be. Nola took what he liked from his past cleats and molded his own.

“We work collaboratively with our elite athletes to achieve the perfect fit and features, including Aaron, who played a vital role in the design and development process, regularly sharing his feedback to create the best cleat for him,” said Greg Smith, the company’s vice president of product development and merchandising. “Our goal is to build product that delivers comfort that performs on the field or court, whatever the sport. Listening to and learning from Aaron and the other athletes has made us a better performance brand, and we hope our baseball cleats help make them better players. ...The feedback and insights from these athletes is invaluable, and we feel privileged to work with them.”

The new cleat, Nola said, doesn’t hold as much dirt as the others. It’s light and durable. His toes feel fine. It’s a simple cleat designed for a pitcher by a simple man. For Nola, the Skechers are perfect. Just don’t go crazy with the colors.

“I don’t think you’ll ever see me out there wearing crazy colors,” Nola said.

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