On one hand, Team Italy went further than most people — and probably even some of them — thought that they would in the WBC. Ultimately though they fell short of reaching the finals when they lost their semifinal game to Venezuela Monday night in Miami.
For a pair of Phillies the experience was certainly important for them in their careers. Aaron Nola is coming off of the worst season of his career and eased some of the uncertainty that a lot of fans felt about him coming into the season. Meanwhile, for Dante Nori, who was already highly regarded within the organization, the exposure made others aware of just how good of a prospect he really is.
Nola made two starts that covered nine innings and he allowed just one run, which came on a home run by Eugenio Suarez. Ironically, Suarez was one of the free agents that the Phillies were reported to have interest in signing over the winter. Nola walked two and struck out eight, posting a 1.11 WHIP for his efforts. Of the 128 pitches he threw, 83 (65%) were for strikes.
One good sign was that Nola appeared to get back to the basics of throwing his fastball and slider while mixing in other weapons in his arsenal along the way. On Monday night, he did leave a few curveballs up in the zone, but had set up the hitters well enough that they weren’t looking for the pitch.
Nola had thrown one spring game for the Phillies prior to leaving for the WBC and allowed one run in two innings of work.
Certainly, Spring Training and even the WBC doesn’t guarantee success or failure based on how a player performs, but for the Phillies, just knowing that the “real” Aaron Nola is still in there certainly alleviates some concerns about what he would be able to give them this season. The Phillies need a bounce back season from Nola, especially since Zack Wheeler will miss some time at the start of the season after undergoing thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.
The good news on Wheeler is that the way his recovery is going, he may miss only a couple of starts prior to returning to the rotation rather than a May or even June return that was expected when the condition was first diagnosed.
For Nori, the WBC gave him a better opportunity than he might have gotten playing in Spring Training. He was facing better pitching than he might have faced at times in camp with the Phillies and was certainly playing in higher pressure and higher profile games.
Nori played in all six games for Italy and hit two home runs while driving in six runs and scoring three. His final slash line was: .400/.435/.750/1.185. On the pre-game Monday night, none other than Alex Rodriguez had glaring reviews for the 21-year-old outfield prospect.
If you’re wondering where Nori opens the minor league season and how quickly he can be in the majors, a little caution is advised.
Nori started last season with Low-A Clearwater and hit .262/.363/.381/.744 with 37 stolen bases in 109 games. The Phillies bumped him up to High-A Jersey Shore, but for just 11 games, and he hit .279/.392/.326/.718 with the BlueClaws and stole 13 more bases. With the season winding down, the Phillies pushed him along to Double-A Reading where he hit just .190 in the final five games of the Double-A season.
If his spring performance did anything for him in terms of where he will start the season, it may have put him at Double-A Reading. Where he begins the season will be interesting to see. Where he finishes the season will be even more interesting. Reaching the majors in 2026 would be a stretch for Nori unless he puts up huge numbers throughout the season. Even then, a full season at the upper levels of the minors is much more likely.
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