Nola Makes Spring Debut, More Pitching Debuts this Week

Phillies ace Aaron Nola made his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday, facing the Pittsburgh Pirates in Clearwater.

The Phillies projected No. 1 starter came out tossing two scoreless innings, on three hits and one strikeout.

"My main focus was to try to pound the strike zone, throw the ball down" Nola told NBC Sports Philadelphia after his outing. "I did that fairly well, got a couple ground balls, got double play, which I was satisfied with."

Nola is looking to elevate himself back into Cy Young candidacy after a some-what underwhelming 2019. The 26-year old went 12-7 with a 3.87 ERA, 1.265 WHIP in 34 starts over 202 1/3 innings.

He will lead a rotation that struggled last season with injuries and inconsistency's, something the team hopes the addition of Zack Wheeler, and a healthy Jake Arrieta might help fix,

Wheeler will make his spring debut on Saturday in Dunedin against Toronto, while Arrieta will lead a split-squad team on Tuesday against the Indians. Another pitcher looking to crack the rotation is Zach Eflin, he will get the ball for the first time this spring on Wednesday in Fort Myers against the Twins.