CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Aaron Nola will make his first start of the spring Saturday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays in Clearwater. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia at 1 p.m.
Though nothing is official, Saturday's assignment will put Nola on schedule to be the Phillies' opening day starter April 8 against the Oakland A's at Citizens Bank Park.
Nola has started the team's last four openers.
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The honor of starting this season's opener likely would have gone to Zack Wheeler after he finished second in last year's National League Cy Young race.
However, Wheeler arrived in camp behind schedule. Part of that was by design as the team wanted him to ramp up slowly after pitching a major league-high 213⅓ innings last season. But part of it was also due to a December bout of shoulder soreness that forced him to briefly pause his offseason throwing routine. The soreness, Wheeler said Sunday, dissipated quickly and he threw his first bullpen session of the spring on Monday. Another had been scheduled for Thursday, but it was scrubbed when Wheeler, according to manager Joe Girardi, came down with the flu. The pitcher was not at the ballpark on Tuesday or Wednesday and is now further behind schedule.
"I think that's fair to say," Girardi said.
"He's going to be out a few days. I can't tell you exactly how many days. You never know how long the flu will linger. The other thing is, we're trying to keep him out of the clubhouse so it doesn't go around the clubhouse."
MLB
Girardi was asked if anything else was troubling Wheeler.
"No," he said. "He's good. He was going to throw a bullpen (Thursday), I believe. But I don't think that's going to happen."
Wheeler is one of the Phillies' most indispensable talents. If he doesn't have enough time to prepare to pitch during the first week of the regular season, the team could look to Bailey Falter, Nick Nelson, Cristopher Sanchez or Hans Crouse to fill that spot.
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