Sep 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch during the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
When the Phillies announced earlier this week that Aaron Nola had a rib injury, manager Rob Thomson said that an MRI showed that the veteran righty had a stress reaction in his right ribcage.
Prior to Friday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Nola met with the media and used a different word to describe his injury.
"It definitely wasn't the news that I was expecting," Nola said. "Thought it was maybe a light strain or something like that, but it kinda came on a little stronger when I was getting a little hotter from my ankle ... when my ankle was feeling a little bit better, I was throwing some more bullpens. I felt it a little more than I had in my last bullpen. And then threw a couple throws a couple days after, and it wasn't really right.
"Did the MRI and it came back up a stress fracture," Nola continued. "It's just trying to do as much as I can with the trainers to help it heal and I guess take time for the bone to heal."
Wait, so was Nola diagnosed with a stress reaction or a stress fracture?
"They told me it was a stress fracture," Nola said.
What's the difference between a stress reaction and a stress fracture? Denner Chiro Performance made the following distinction:
"Stress reactions are similar to stress fractures in that they are both considered to be stress injuries.
"However, there is an important distinction between the two. Whereas a stress fracture is a complete crack in the bone, a stress reaction occurs when the bone begins to weaken but does not crack all the way through."
Aaron Nola discusses the stress fracture in his right ribcage…
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/0igDO6Q3Rd
Also of note from Nola's meeting with the media is the answer he gave when he was asked about how the injury occurred.
"Honestly, I don't really know," Nola admitted. "I guess it just came from throwing. I'm not really sure how it comes about specifically. I guess it's from throwing, and I guess working that area a lot. I'm not really sure. I've never had a stress fracture in my rib, so this is really new to me. Just trying to take time off to let it heal."
The Phillies initially suggested last weekend in Pittsburgh that they believed Nola may have hurt his side from coughing when he was experiencing flu-like symptoms.
But Nola told On Pattison's Anthony SanFilippo Friday that he had noticed the rib discomfort that turned out to be the stress fracture prior to getting sick:
Nola also told me he felt this in his ribs before he got sick in Toronto last week. So, while the coughing certainly didn’t help it, it existed before he got sick. https://t.co/XVXaSUYP80
Whatever the reasoning for the mixed messages from the Phillies and Nola, we now know he has a stress fracture in his right ribcage. Thomson said earlier this week that Nola wouldn't even play catch for two weeks. There's no indication that timeline has changed, and from there, Nola is going to need to build back up again, hoping that both his ribcage and the right ankle sprain that initially landed him on the IL on May 16 aren't issues moving forward.
Certainly, there's a scenario where Nola comes back in, say, August and benefits from being fresher than he would normally be at that time of year. But it's hard not to wonder if this is going to turn into a lost season for Nola. And in the second season of a seven-year/$172 million contract, it also crosses your mind whether a decade of throwing 200-ish innings per season is starting to catch up with a starter who had been the picture of durability.
