Phillies’ Aaron Nola will make his first rehab start Thursday with Lehigh Valley

CHICAGO — There will be a few big leaguers on the mound for triple-A Lehigh Valley this week in Worcester, Mass.

Veteran reliever David Robertson made his second appearance for the IronPigs on Tuesday as he continues his ramp-up process after the Phillies signed him on July 21. Aaron Nola (rib) and Joe Ross (back spasms) are set to begin rehab assignments on Thursday.

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Nola is scheduled to make his first rehab start as he works his way back from a stress fracture in his rib. The right-hander threw in a live batting practice session in New York last week, but Thursday will mark his first official game action since May 14. He went on the injured list after that game with a sprained ankle, and his time on the shelf was extended further when the stress fracture was identified in June.

Nola is targeting 55-60 pitches, which is about the same amount he threw in his batting practice session. The Phillies are aiming to keep him on a five-day schedule. If he makes three starts, he could be ready to return in mid-August.

Rounding out the IronPigs starters, Andrew Painter will start Wednesday and Mick Abel will start Friday.

While Alec Bohm (left rib fracture) is not near a rehab assignment, he continues to progress and has been able to run, take ground balls on the field, and hit off a tee. The next step is hitting underhand tosses.

“And then you graduate to cage BP, and then you graduate to field BP, and then live at bats,” manager Rob Thomson said.

With less than 48 hours before the trade deadline and the Phillies’ front office quiet so far, Thomson has kept his focus on the 26 players he has with him at Rate Field in Chicago.

One thing he said he does when asked is lean on his network across baseball to make “makeup calls” on potential trade targets, to help suss out how they might fit in the Phillies’ clubhouse.

“That’s real,” Thomson said. “You know, Philly’s a different place, and you’ve got to have thick skin. You have to be tough.”

The Phillies’ most pressing area of need is the bullpen, and they are aiming high. But until a move is made, one reliever who has been gaining a little more trust with them is Max Lazar. The righty has a 1.93 ERA in July and has come through in some tough spots, including stranding a pair on Monday night against the White Sox. In 21 appearances this season, Lazar has inherited 13 runners and has allowed none of them to score.

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“He goes out there and he attacks, and I think he’s got a really slow heartbeat,” Thomson said. “He’s been really good in those situations. The curveball is good for lefties. He pitches north, south, so that carry fastball up in the zone, and tunnel it with the breaking ball down, it’s tough to hit.”

Additional testing came back clean on Diamondbacks infielder Eugenio Suárez, one of the top bats on the trade market who was hit by a pitch in the hand on Monday night. The Phillies had previously checked in on Suárez, who was held out of Arizona’s game on Tuesday. … The Orioles traded former Phillies reliever Seranthony Domínguez to the Blue Jays in exchange for pitcher Juaron Watts-Brown, who had been ranked as Toronto’s No. 10 prospect by MLBPipeline. The Phillies dealt Domínguez to Baltimore at the 2024 deadline in the Austin Hays trade. … Taijuan Walker (3-5, 3.84 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale in Chicago against White Sox righty Adrian Houser (6-2, 2.10).