‘Common sense’ says Aaron Nola will open World Series for Phillies
Rob Thomson makes it sound like Nola is a lock for Friday with Zack Wheeler lined up for Game 2.
Aaron Nola briefly shared a starting rotation with Cole Hamels and now he’ll likely share a title with the Phillies’ last World Series hero: Game 1 starter.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Tuesday on WIP-FM that “the common sense way to go about it” is to have Nola face the Astros on Friday in the World Series opener, with Zack Wheeler starting on Saturday. The Phillies will make an official decision on Wednesday before they fly to Houston.
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Thomson started Wheeler ahead of Nola in each of the first three postseason series, but flipping them in the World Series allows Wheeler to get an extra day instead of pitching on normal rest after starting Sunday’s pennant clincher against San Diego. Nola enters the World Series on eight days’ rest.
The Astros have won each of their seven postseason games and have not lost since Oct. 3 when Nola carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Nola pitched 6⅔ scoreless innings as the Phils clinched their first postseason berth since 2011.
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The Astros are expected to start Justin Verlander, who led the majors this season with a 1.75 ERA. The 39-year-old allowed six runs in four innings in the American League Division Series against Seattle before striking out 11 Yankees in the American League Championship Series over six innings.
An extra day of rest could benefit Wheeler, who went on the injured list for four weeks late in the season due to forearm tendinitis. He has been excellent in October, posting a 1.78 ERA over four postseason starts. But his velocity dipped at the end of each one and he was nursing a sore knee after being hit by a comebacker in the fourth inning of Sunday’s pennant clincher.
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It doesn’t seem to be alarming, but extra rest would be ideal. Wheeler said he was in the training room when Bryce Harper hit his winning homer.
“The glass was shaking, the roof was cracking. It was pretty wild,” Wheeler said. “I was icing my knee. I was just laying there. It was pretty cool to watch the windows shake.”