The Philadelphia Phillies plan to start veteran right-hander Aaron Nola in Thursday night’s decisive Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series against the Atlanta Braves.
The best-of-three series is tied 1-1 after Philadelphia’s 4-3 win in 10 innings on Wednesday at Truist Park. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT. The winner advances to the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a matchup set to begin Saturday.
Reports early Thursday indicated Nola would take the ball for the Phillies.
NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury wrote that the club intended to start the right-hander opposite a Braves opener.
“Hearing Phillies will start Aaron Nola tonight vs. Braves opener Ray Kerr, a lefty. Always subject to change but that’s the plan as of this AM,” Salisbury posted.
Nola, 33, has pitched all 12 of his major league seasons with Philadelphia after debuting in 2015. He made a National League-high 33 starts this season and worked 175 1/3 innings.
Nola recorded 177 strikeouts and finished with a 4.67 ERA. Those figures improved on his 2025 results, when he posted a 6.07 ERA in 17 starts.
Across his career he has been worth 38.6 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference calculations. He owns a 3.91 ERA and 2,053 strikeouts in 1,891 regular-season innings.
Nola has made 11 postseason starts and carries a 3.88 ERA with 61 strikeouts over 55 2/3 playoff innings.
Atlanta’s full pitching plan for the elimination game had not been confirmed publicly as of Thursday morning. Left-hander Ray Kerr was expected to open, with the Braves still sorting the bulk of the innings behind him.
The clubs split the first two games of the series in Atlanta. Philadelphia erased an early deficit Wednesday on back-to-back home runs from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper before Alec Bohm delivered the go-ahead shot in the 10th.
Nola’s heavy workload this year gives the Phillies a familiar arm for a winner-take-all setting. His 33 starts topped the league even as the ERA sat above his career norm.
The right-hander has remained a rotation constant through multiple postseason runs with the only franchise he has known.
Philadelphia has eliminated Atlanta in recent October series, including the 2022 and 2023 Division Series. Thursday’s result will decide which club faces the Dodgers beginning Saturday.
Nola’s strikeout rate stayed productive despite the higher earned-run total, and his innings total ranked among the league leaders. The Phillies used a bulk of their bullpen in the first two games, including three scoreless innings from rookie Andrew Painter to close out Wednesday’s win.
Any late change to the starting assignment remained possible, as club officials had not issued a formal announcement by mid-morning.
