They began trickling into Baton Rouge, La., in the spring of 2012. By 2014, the trickle had become a tsunami. But while almost all the scouts who watched Aaron Nola in college agreed he would someday pitch in the major leagues, the prevailing opinion was that he profiled as, at best, a middle-of-the-rotation starter.
Paul Mainieri knew better.
“I kept kind of smirking when I’d hear that,” said Mainieri, who recruited Nola, now the ace of the Phillies staff, to Louisiana State University, put him the starting rotation as a true freshman and watched him develop into one of the best amateur pitchers in the country.