Mike Schmidt Bring Super Star Power Back to Draft Contest with Artful Performance..

The last time anyone other than Aaron Nola took the mound on Opening Day for the Phillies was in 2017 when Jeremy Hellickson got the ball. The club’s record in the last six opening days Nola has started is 3-3. In club history, only Steve Carlton and Robin Roberts have started more season openers than Nola.S nostalgia give Nola an advantage in the early game?.

houldCatchers and pitchers report to their spring training camps this week. Ranked players will report next week. Spring training games start in a week. Baseball season is approaching.As the Philadelphia Phillies approach spring training and ultimately opening day, manager Rob Thomson must decide, among other things, which starting pitcher will get the ball on March 28 at Citizens Bank Park. If the Phillies leave Clearwater healthy, the decision will come down to two pitchers: Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola..The Philadelphia Phillies acted all offseason as if they were preparing to pay the highest salary in team history and didn’t want to add any contracts to it. Despite an offer for Yoshinobu Yamamoto that would exceed the luxury tax, the Phillies did not make any major moves after the Japanese phenom decided to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The front office was certainly looking for upgrades, but adding depth pieces here and there hasn’t exactly been how Dave Dombrowski has been with the team since taking over. But that changed when they signed Whit Merrifield to a one-year deal. According to Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer , this deal and Alex Bohmand’s $4 million salary earned in arbitration by No. 039 now exceeds Philadelphia’s second luxury tax threshold by $257 million, and their projected payroll is $260.8 million. Maybe that will change owner John Middleton’s mind about how to spend this offseason. As the old saying goes, andquot;give an inch, take a mile.andquot; With the exception of the Phillies, it’s more that since they’ve already crossed the second threshold, they might as well go all-in and spend on another high-profile player. In that case, it would likely be starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, who is coming off his best season in the MLB and has been linked to Philadelphia multiple times this winter..