DENVER - Aaron Nola returned to the mound on Saturday to pitch a simulated game, but the pitcher denied that his time away had been a mental break.
"My body's healthy, I don't really think it's a mental break," Nola said. "Mentally, I feel fine. I just felt like the past month, I struggled. The ball was up. It wasn't where it should be. When you're elevating balls and not getting ahead of guys, they make you pay for it. That was the main part."
Nola, whose start was skipped on Thursday, has a 13.50 ERA in his last five starts.