Phillies stalwarts Aaron Nola and J.T. Realmuto search for answers amid struggles

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There are people far more important to the operation than two of the franchise’s longest-tenured players. That is just the reality in 2026. But Nola is moving further and further from the days when he resembled a reliable mid-rotation pitcher. Realmuto is playing less often than he has in years and is stuck in a brutal slump. He caught Nola, removed after a mere 77 pitches in five innings during Wednesday’s 9-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, and it was impossible to avoid the idea of becoming mortal. “It’s tough to see anybody struggle, especially somebody like Nola,” Realmuto said. “He works so hard. He’s such a good competitor. He’s gotten a lot of big outs for this team. We wouldn’t be where we’re at without him. So we’re all pulling for him to get through it. We have confidence that he will.” Nola allowed four runs; he at least didn’t walk a batter or surrender a home run. It was the first time since 2019 that Nola was removed at five innings having thrown fewer than 80 pitches. He has reached the sixth inning only once over his last seven starts. “He’s making a lot of really good pitches,” Realmuto said. “And then there’s just times where he’s catching a little too much plate, falling behind in counts. Also, sometimes (he’s) making good pitches and just not getting any luck with it. They had quite a few hits today that weren’t exactly on the barrel and got a lot of traffic out there.” Realmuto went 0-for-4 to drop his OPS to .563. He hit fifth for the first time in a month (and the second time all season), and it was done simply out of necessity. The Phillies had to field a lineup against a lefty starter. They have a dearth of effective right-handed hitters. And after Wednesday’s loss, lefty starters have a 2.24 ERA in 15 starts against the Phillies. Realmuto, who has a career .760 OPS against lefties, should help there. But he did not hit lefties last season (.601 OPS), and he has not hit anyone this season. Since returning from the injured list on May 2, Realmuto is batting .160/.218/.200 in 55 plate appearances. The Phillies re-signed him to a three-year, $45 million deal in the offseason. He has looked late on fastballs. His last extra-base hit was 13 days ago. He at least hit two balls to the warning track Wednesday. “To be honest, my timing feels fine right now,” Realmuto said. “I’m just missing a lot of pitches. Just seem to just be off the barrel. I don’t know exactly why that is, but it doesn’t feel like a timing issue. It just feels like I’m either catching it just off the end or just in off the barrel. So, I’m just going to keep working and try to figure it out.” At the conclusion of Wednesday’s game, Realmuto’s .563 OPS ranked 246th out of 274 major-league hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. He’s had stretches like this before, such as a .552 OPS over a 31-game span in 2024, but that was over several months due to time missed for knee surgery. The last time he had similar prolonged struggles was in August and September 2017 with the Miami Marlins. That year, his manager was Mattingly. The Phillies, under Mattingly, have pushed forward with an idea long discussed but never implemented. Realmuto will have more frequent days off. That’s either a reflection of a regime change in the dugout or a realization that Realmuto, at 35, is no longer someone who has to be in their lineup as much as humanly possible. For now. “I just don’t think him catching five, six days in a row at this point in the season makes a lot of sense,” Mattingly said. “Just going to try to keep him stronger through the course of the season. And if we get to the point where it’s every day, every day as much as he can, then that’s where it’s going to get to. But the early part of the year, and kind of coming off a little bit of a back thing, there’s no reason to have to push.” Realmuto is slugging .246 against fastballs this season. From 2018 to 2024, his first seven seasons with the Phillies, he slugged .507 on fastballs. He has not lost bat speed in 2026; MLB’s Statcast bat-tracking metrics actually show a slight uptick. So, it’s possible Realmuto’s self-diagnosis is not inaccurate. Nola’s situation is just as muddled. He has struggled with innings spiraling; opponents are batting .312 off him this season with runners on but .293 without men on base. He is not missing bats, with his current barrel rate (9.5 percent) ranking as the worst in his career. His strikeout rate is the second worst of his career, behind his rookie season, and his hard-hit rate is the second worst after 2025. Nola, who turns 33 in June, also lacks an effective weapon against left-handed hitters, who are batting .323 and slugging .525 against him. The Reds’ lefties, however, went 1-for-10 against him. It was not enough. Nola missed some spots. Two fastballs, a four-seamer and a two-seamer, were mislocated and hit into the outfield in the fourth. The Reds scored on the second misplaced pitch — hit 71 mph into right-center field — to extend their lead to 4-1. “It all comes down to getting the leadoff guy out,” Nola said, “and trying to keep runners off the basepaths and limit the damage.” The Phillies are searching for anything to limit the damage for Nola, who faltered during an injury-shortened 2025 and is signed to a lucrative contract for 4 1/2 more seasons. They have talked through several options, Mattingly said — pitching backwards, using his fastball more, more changeup, more breaking ball. “Each team presents their own set of challenges,” Mattingly said, “so I can’t say it’s one thing to flip the whole script. It’s going to be each game, game to game.” The afternoon started with an 11-pitch inning that took four minutes. It was vintage Nola. He pitched Elly De La Cruz backward and froze him with a 94 mph fastball for a called strike three. He landed a first-pitch changeup to lefty JJ Bleday for strike one. He got him to foul off an inside cutter. Then he went back to the changeup, a little below the zone, and Bleday whiffed. It was fleeting. It was enough for Realmuto to hang on to. “I feel like he’s just a small adjustment away from being … you saw how good he was in the first inning today,” Realmuto said. “It’s still in there. It all comes down to command and being able to throw the ball where he wants.” For Nola, that used to be a given. He could still find it. But time is undefeated. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms