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Aaron Michael Nola (born June 4, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Nola was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and played baseball alongside his older brother Austin Nola. His father, A. J., served as Nola's Little League coach until high school. After struggling his freshman season due to in his back, Nola spent three years playing varsity baseball for Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, including two state playoff appearances. At the end of his senior year in 2011, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association named Nola the state's "Mr. Baseball".
Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011, he instead attended Louisiana State University (LSU). In his three seasons as a weekend starter with the LSU Tigers, Nola was twice named the SEC Pitcher of the Year and won the National Pitcher of the Year Award in 2014. He also played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
The Phillies selected Nola seventh overall in the 2014 MLB Draft, and he signed with the team that June. He advanced through the Phillies' farm system throughout the 2014 and 2015 seasons, becoming the first Phillies pitcher to make his major league debut the season after his draft since Pat Combs in 1989. Although Nola performed well in his first full season with the Phillies in 2016, he was shut down early due to an elbow injury. He returned in 2017 to beat Curt Schilling's 1996 record for most strikeouts by a Phillies pitcher with fewer than 30 starts in one season. The following year, he became the fourth pitcher in franchise history to record at least 200 strikeouts in a single season. Nola started six straight Opening Day games for the Phillies from 2018 until 2023 and is considered an ace.
Nola's father served as his Little League Baseball coach until high school, when he began playing for Catholic High School in Baton Rouge. in his back, which doctors attributed to a six-inch summer growth spurt, hampered Nola's freshman season. Nola spent three seasons on the varsity team, including two state playoff appearances. He missed one month of his junior season with a hernia but returned in the playoffs to pitch Catholic to the state finals. In his senior year, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association named Nola "Mr. Baseball", given to the top player in the state. Across his varsity baseball career, Nola posted a 21–2 win–loss record and 214 in 152 innings pitched.
Nola finished his freshman season in 2012 with a 7–4 record and a 3.61 earned run average (ERA) in innings, as well as with seven walks and 89 strikeouts. In the postseason, he was the starting pitcher in the first game of the best-of-three 2012 Baton Rouge Super Regional. It would be the only game that LSU would win against the Stony Brook Seawolves in that tournament. That summer, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League, with whom he recorded a 2–0 record and 0.82 ERA in 11 innings.
Nola impressed in his second season with LSU. On April 19, he threw his first career shutout complete game against Alabama, becoming the first LSU pitcher to shut out an SEC team since Kevin Gausman in 2011. On May 3 against Florida, Nola became the first LSU pitcher to record four consecutive complete-game victories since Mike Sirotka in 1993, and the first two record two shutouts in one season since Greg Smith in 2005. That year, Nola went 12–1 with a 1.57 ERA in 126 innings pitched. He also recorded a 0.82 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) measure. He was also named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), Baseball America, and Collegiate Baseball All-American teams, and was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year. Nola was a finalist for the National Pitcher of the Year Award, and was the recipient of the 2012–13 Corbett Award, given to the best amateur athlete in the state of Louisiana.
Prior to the 2014 season, Nola and Bregman were named first-team preseason All-Americans by the NCBWA. That year, he pitched to an 11–1 record with a 1.47 ERA, 27 walks, 134 strikeouts, and a .172 opponent batting average in innings. He once again won the SEC Player of the Year Award, and was the recipient of the 2014 National Pitcher of the Year award. He was also a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the best amateur baseball player in the US, and the Dick Howser Trophy, awarded to the best national college baseball player of the year. Across his three-year career at LSU, Nola posted a 30–6 record and 2.09 ERA in 332 innings, with 42 walks and 345 strikeouts. He ranks third in LSU history for strikeouts, fourth for ERA, and fifth for pitching wins.
Nola began the 2015 season with Reading, going 7–3 in 12 starts with a 1.88 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. He was promoted to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs on June 14, 2015. In his debut on June 18, Nola threw five shutout innings in a 3–0 win over the Buffalo Bisons. Nola went 3–1 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in six starts with the IronPigs. He was selected for the 2015 MLB All-Star Futures Game but did not pitch. His last game before being called up to the majors was also his worst professional start, giving up six runs in three innings to the Rochester Red Wings.
On April 2, 2016, Nola was named to the Phillies' 2016 Opening Day roster. Although he managed a 5–4 record and 2.65 ERA in his first 12 starts, he soon struggled, posting a 9.82 ERA in eight starts between June 11 and July 28, and took a two-week break in July to focus on his physical and mental health. On August 3, the Phillies announced that Nola would go on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain. Two weeks later, general manager Matt Klentak announced that Nola had been diagnosed with "low-grade" sprains and strains in his elbow, and that he would not pitch again for the remainder of the season. He pitched 111 innings that season in 20 starts and posted a 6–9 record and 4.78 ERA.
Nola was chosen as the Phillies' Opening Day starting pitcher in 2018. Manager Gabe Kapler's decision to remove Nola from the mound after only 68 pitches was subject to controversy, as the relief pitchers during that game gave up eight runs to the Atlanta Braves. On May 8, Nola struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven innings against the San Francisco Giants. He was named to the National League All Star team after posting an 11–2 record and 2.41 ERA in his first 18 starts of the season. Nola finished the season with a 17–6 record and 2.37 ERA in 33 starts and innings. He was the second Phillie, after Grover Cleveland Alexander, to strike out over 200 batters and hold his opponents to a batting average of .200 or lower in a single season, and held the fourth-highest single-season strikeout record in Phillies history, behind Alexander, Schilling, and Jim Bunning. Nola came in third in voting for the National League Cy Young Award, behind Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets and Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals.
Nola arrived late to the Phillies' 2020 spring training after quarantining due to exposure to COVID-19. He made his third consecutive Opening Day start in 2020, starting in a 5–2 loss against the Miami Marlins. He pitched his first two complete games with the Phillies in 2020, both of which were only seven innings due to a rule that shortened doubleheaders. His August 26 start against the Nationals served as Joe Girardi's 1000th managerial win. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he posted a 5–5 record and 3.28 ERA in 12 starts and innings. Nola's 5–0 loss to the Rays at the end of the regular season eliminated the Phillies from wild card contention in the postseason.
For the 2021 season, he had the lowest left on base percentage in the majors, at 66.8%. Nola finished the season with a 9–9 record, pitching to a 4.63 ERA and 223 strikeouts in 32 starts and innings.
Nola finished the 2022 season with an 11–13 record, posting a 3.25 ERA and 235 strikeouts in 32 starts and 205 innings. Nola also lead the Majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Five days after the Phillies clinched in Houston, Nola threw shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series as the Phillies won the series 2–0. On October 14, Nola started Game 3 of the National League Division Series, the first Phillies home playoff game in eleven years. He allowed one unearned run and five hits over six innings. Nola started Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, as well, against the San Diego Padres. During the game, Aaron and Austin Nola became the first pair of brothers in Major League Baseball postseason history to face each other as pitcher and batter.
During the World Series, Nola was the starting pitcher for the Phillies in Game 1 and Game 4. Nola got a no-decision for Game 1 because he only pitched for 5 innings and gave up 5 runs, including a pair of home runs to Kyle Tucker, the Phillies tied the game and won in the 10th inning due to J. T. Realmuto's game-winning home run. But in Game 4, Nola gave up no runs throughout 4 innings but loaded the bases in the 5th inning and was lifted, and afterward left-handed relief pitcher Jose Alvarado's poor outing resulted in Astros' scoring 5 runs during the inning, and Nola ended up being the losing pitcher in Game 4, a turning point in World Series, which Phillies eventually lost in 6 games.
Nola has largely maintained the same four-pitch lineup since entering the majors in 2015, throwing a four-seam fastball, a curveball, a changeup, and a sinker. He began working a Cut fastball into his rotation during 2021 spring training, saying, "I've always wanted to throw one but never took it into a game." In his first season in the majors, Nola's four-seam fastball ranged between , while his sinker averaged . He increased his fastball speed to by the start of the 2018 season, but told The Philadelphia Inquirer that his focus is not on speed, saying, "There are different ways to get outs rather than throwing 95, 96, 97 ... It would be nice to throw 97, but I physically can't."
Nola has consistently struggled during September. Between 2018 and 2020, his pre-September statistics showed a 30–9 record and 2.79 ERA in 62 starts, while in September over the same period, he pitched 4–9 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts. In 2019, Nola went 0–3 in September with a 6.51 ERA in five starts. Former manager Joe Girardi and Nola are aware of Nola's late-season struggles, but are unsure of why they occur.
Nola did not miss a start in the rotation from 2017 until May 2025 and was considered one of baseball's most durable pitchers in a profession increasingly plagued by Tommy John surgery. Nola pitched innings from 2018 to 2024, the most in the majors.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nola partnered with Pennsylvania-based brewery Yuengling to launch "Cheers PA," an initiative to provide aid for restaurant and bar workers impacted by shutdowns. He and catcher J. T. Realmuto also serve as the Phillies' ambassadors for Garth Brooks' "Home Plate Project," which raises money to fight childhood hunger in the US and Canada. The Phillies nominated Nola for the 2020 Roberto Clemente Award for his charity work.
Nola is a Christian. His Entrance music is "I am Second" by Christian rock band Newsboys.
Nola and his wife were married on December 31, 2022. Their daughter was born on March 16, 2024.
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