Some Like It Hot. What about Nola?

“Some guys are just like that.” So said Rob Thomson about Aaron Nola this past Saturday. There are a number of ways in which Nola is “just like that”— some guys just have excellent hair, some guys are just particularly likely to pitch a large number of innings, etc. But in this case, Thomson was referring to Nola’s apparent struggles in colder weather. After a second consecutive rough start, this one against the Dodgers to the tune of 2 homers, 7 hits, 3 earned runs and just 2 strikeouts, Thomson suggested that Nola’s early season struggles (his first start, a 2-homer loss to the Nationals, wasn’t great either) were the result of the time of year, with his performance, and particularly his fastball, likely to take a leap as the weather got warmer.

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