Phillies’ Aaron Nola to start Game 3 of the NLDS: ‘I trust him’
Manager Rob Thomson said starter Ranger Suárez will pitch behind Nola out of the bullpen.
Aaron Nola will start Game 3 of the National League Division Series for the Phillies in Los Angeles on Wednesday, manager Rob Thomson announced Monday night. Thomson said starter Ranger Suárez will pitch behind Nola out of the bullpen.
It is an unconventional choice. Suárez has put together a stronger season overall, and Wednesday is an elimination game after the Dodgers beat the Phillies, 4-3, Monday to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. But Thomson said he opted for Nola because he has never pitched out of the bullpen before, and Suárez has.
Nola spent the bulk of the regular season on the injured list with a right ankle sprain. He combined for a 6.01 ERA across 94⅓ innings in 2025, with a 24% strikeout rate and a 6.9% walk rate.
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The Phillies hope he can build off the momentum of his last start of the regular season. Nola tossed eight innings of two-hit ball against the Twins on Sept. 26, allowing one earned run (a home run) with nine strikeouts.
Of course, the Twins are not the Dodgers, who had a team regular-season slugging percentage of .441 and an OPS of .768 (both good for second-best in baseball). But Thomson is confident in Nola.
“How long he goes, I don’t know,” Thomson said Monday. “But I trust him.”
Nola said he feels good physically.
“My body’s all healthy,” he said. “Ball is coming out pretty well. Want to keep that going and hope to have a good start.”
He added: “I obviously wasn’t able to do much since getting hurt for three months, so the more I was able to throw and pitch, the better I’ve felt, the better my body’s felt. So, just kind of get in that groove [and] try to keep that going.”
Suárez has been available out of the bullpen in Games 1 and 2 but has yet to be used. Thomson said there is “nothing” wrong with Suárez healthwise, but the fact that he hasn’t pitched is curious.
The left-handed starter began his season on the injured list with lower back stiffness but put together a strong campaign, posting a 3.20 ERA across 26 starts (157⅓ innings) with 151 strikeouts and 38 walks.
Now, with their team down 0-2, Nola and Suárez will be asked to limit the damage against one of the most formidable offenses in the sport.
“I’m going to go out and compete as best as I can and throw the ball as best as I can and put them in a good position to win a baseball game,” Nola said. “Obviously we’re 0-2 right now, so going into L.A., we’ve got to obviously get a win and take it inning by inning and pitch by pitch.”