Speaking from experience, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola offers injury advice to Andrew Painter

CLEARWATER, Fla. — About a week ago, as news of Andrew Painter’s tender elbow started to spread, Aaron Nola approached the young pitcher in the clubhouse. He asked him what the injury was. Painter told him it was a partial tear, and Nola offered some advice.

He was certainly qualified to give it. Nola had the same injury in 2016, his first full season in the majors. He still remembers standing on a mound in Atlanta, on July 28, and feeling something pop. At first, he thought it was his triceps, but then he felt around his arm, and realized it was closer to his elbow.

Nola stomached through five innings, but still felt pain on certain pitches. He took a few days off, and threw a bullpen session, but the pain lingered. He had never been hurt like this before, and was nervous to tell the training staff. He took pride in his durability.

“I don’t like missing games or being hurt, or telling people I don’t feel good, because I really value feeling good every single time I go out on the mound,” said Nola, who was sidelined the rest of the season. “I work on my body and do things to keep myself healthy. But that felt different. We [as pitchers] pitch with different types of pain and tweaks, but if you know your body, you know what is actually hurt and what is not hurt. At that time, something that didn’t feel right. So I had to tell them. I’m glad I did.”

» READ MORE: Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter’s MRI reveals a UCL sprain. He will rest for four weeks.

Nola described it as a “nerve-wracking” experience. He didn’t want to miss any time. But then he came to a realization. He was only 23 and in his second big league season, protecting his health now would only help him in the long run.

“The body is going to heal itself,” his pitching coach, Bob McClure, told him.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Nola responded. “I’m young.”

When Nola showed up to spring training the next year, after taking all of November and December off and receiving a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection, he felt like a new pitcher. His stride lengthened when he started throwing. He learned how to pitch more from his legs and his velocity ticked up. In many ways, the injury felt like a blessing in disguise.

Nola relayed all of this to Painter, who was fresh off a diagnosis of a UCL sprain by the Phillies’ medical staff.

“Be honest with yourself,” Nola told Painter. “Nineteen-year-old bodies heal a lot quicker than 29-year-old bodies nowadays.

“I pray for him. I hope everything works out. I hope he doesn’t have to get surgery. Hopefully he heals really quick and it’s nothing super big.”

Painter appreciated the gesture. He knew Nola not only for his body of work, but also for his ability to stay on the field. Since 2016, Nola has been placed on the injured list only twice. He’s logged three seasons of more than 200 innings (2018, 2019 and 2022).

“When you look at his track record, he’s been great ever since [that injury in 2016],” Painter said. “He’s very durable.”

When Nola made his debut with the Phillies in 2015, he was just 22. But he had veterans he could lean on. Chad Billingsley was his locker mate. Cole Hamels was, too, for a couple of weeks. Aaron Harang used the locker across from Nola’s. Nola decided that when he was a veteran, he would help younger pitchers, just like Hamels, Billingsley and Harang had helped him.

“Those guys were great and they were super approachable and gave me a lot of tips,” Nola said. “They had been in my shoes and it’s the same thing with us. [Zack] Wheeler and I, we were in those guys’ shoes and we know how it is. We know there’s going to be ups and downs and struggles, but you’ve got to want to learn from those struggles.”

Painter has made it clear that he’s willing to learn.

“It’s hard to be asked to stay healthy your whole career,” he said. “There are going to be some ups and downs, some major, and some minor. But just to be able to hear some insight [from the veterans] is great.”