Aaron Nola called Coca-Cola Park home in 2015 when he was a member of the Lehigh IronPigs. Of his six starts that season, just two were at home. He made another start with the IronPigs on a rehab assignment in 2017 and on Wednesday night, made another rehab start with Lehigh Valley as he works his way back from both an ankle and a rib injury.

The results were good, especially after the first inning when he allowed a run on two walks and two hits and then worked out of a bases loaded jam to get out of the inning without further damage. The opening frame cost Nola 28 pitches – which could have been worse had he not gotten the first and last hitters of the inning out on one pitch. Of those 28 pitches, 15 were for strikes. Overall, Nola threw 69 pitches, 40 for strikes against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees).

Nola’s final line was 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He faced 17 batters and threw a first pitch strike to just six of them. He made a rehab start last Thursday with Lehigh Valley when they were playing in Worcester. In that start Nola allowed three hits in three innings and walked one and struck out three without allowing a run. He threw 47 pitches, 31 for strikes. The plan for now is one more start, likely on Tuesday in Buffalo, with Nola hoping to get up to 90 pitches.

“I think the most important part [in the second start] is feeling good and then command; making sure the ball is coming out good. I felt my delivery was a lot better this time than in the last game,” said Nola. “I tried to get my velocity up a little and it was, so I feel pretty confident about how it went tonight.”

All three of Nola’s strikeouts came on his knuckle-curve and were 77, 78, and 79 miles per hour. Two of the strikeouts were looking and the other was swinging. Outfield prospect Spencer Jones went 1-for-2 with a single, a stolen base, and a run scored against Nola.

“I felt pretty good with the knuckle-curve tonight. They took a couple of good ones in that first inning. I tried to dial it in a little better after that first inning and command it a little bit better, especially on the outside part of the plate,” said Nola of his curve.

Nola pitched on the same day that the Phillies announced they were pushing Zack Wheeler back a day after he experienced more soreness than usual in his right shoulder after his last start. For Nola, he had “the normal” soreness after his first rehab start and would have to wait until Thursday to see how he felt following this start. Defensively, Nola had just one play to make when he covered first on a groundball to first baseman Luis Verdugo.

“I got a bit of a late start on that one, but it felt good and I had no trouble getting over there,” reported Nola.

It helped Nola that he had a familiar face to throw to in Garrett Stubbs, who has been with Lehigh Valley all season. Another veteran, Payton Henry, caught Nola in his first rehab start.

“It definitely helped. He’s caught me a lot up there in Philly and we have a really good relationship,” said Nola about Stubbs being behind the plate.