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By Noah Camras
Contributing Sports Writer
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Philadelphia Phillies All-Star starting pitcher Aaron Nola has suffered a major setback in his recovery.
Nola, who's been out since mid-May due to a right ankle injury, recently reported feeling soreness in his right side.
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Nola underwent an MRI which showed a stress reaction in his right rib cage, manager Rob Thomson announced Tuesday, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Nola won't throw for at least two weeks and, at this rate, doesn't appear to be on track to return until after the All-Star break.
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Nola, 32, has endured the worst season of his career both on and off the field.
The always dependable right-hander had made at least 30 starts in every season since 2018, excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season in which he made a full 12 starts, including two complete games.
However, this year, the injury bug finally struck Nola, and now has him sidelined for what will likely be at least two months since his initial IL stint.
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When Nola was on the field, though, it wasn't much better.
The one-time All-Star had gone just 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA across nine starts. He had allowed an unbelievable 11 home runs and 34 earned runs over 49.2 innings pitched.
The durable Nola was finally placed on the injured list in May, marking his first IL stint because of a physical injury since 2017. At the time, the Phillies didn't believe the injury would require a stint much longer than the minimum 15 days.
"It's definitely not that comfortable," Nola said at the time. "It got a little better from the first start in Cleveland [to St. Louis]. I thought it'd be pretty much better by now, but it's still lingering. So hopefully it'll get out pretty quick."
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, as Nola "felt some soreness in his right side," per Thomson, and had his live batting practice session cancelled last week. Thomson called it "very mild," but it's escalated into a situation that will now sideline Nola for the foreseeable future.
The Phillies are currently 38-28, four games back of the New York Mets for first place in the National League East. They're in a brutal skid, having lost nine of their last 11 games, including five straight before their extra innings win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday.
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