In a little more than a year, Aaron Nola has gone from LSU’s Alex Box Stadium to the Philadelphia Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies announced Friday morning that the former LSU All-America right-hander will make his major league debut Tuesday against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.
Nola, a former Catholic High standout, was drafted with the seventh pick of the 2014 MLB draft last June. He will become the first Phillies player to make his MLB debut the year after he was drafted since Pat Combs in 1989.
Nola moved up to Triple-A Lehigh Valley last month after going 7-3 with a 1.88 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 12 starts spanning 76.2 innings with Double-A Reading. He remained solid with Lehigh Valley, going 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 32.2 innings over six starts.
“I’m just going out there to do my job,” Nola told The Advocate last month. “I have been throwing well lately, and my secondary stuff has been getting better. When I leave some stuff over the plate, I have learned how to compensate. I now know that I can’t get upset over a bad pitch, but I now am able to recover better. It is really about keeping my head in the game and staying focused at all times. But when I don’t have my best stuff, it is about keeping my team in the game.”
In three years at LSU, Nola was 30-6 and had a 2.09 ERA with 345 strikeouts over 332 innings. He is No. 3 on the LSU career list for strikeouts, No. 4 in ERA and No. 5 in wins.
Via – The Advocate