Phillies news and rumors 2/29: Aaron Nola shares high praise for Zack Wheeler

Aaron Nola had already voiced his opinion that Zack Wheeler should start for the Phillies on Opening Day, but the newly re-signed righty’s praise for his rotation-mate goes much further. Appearing on the Foul Territory show with Scott Braun, A.J. Pierzynski & Erik Kratz on Wednesday, Nola stated where he thinks Wheeler stacks up among […]

Aaron Nola had already voiced his opinion that Zack Wheeler should start for the Phillies on Opening Day, but the newly re-signed righty’s praise for his rotation-mate goes much further.

Appearing on the Foul Territory show with Scott Braun, A.J. Pierzynski & Erik Kratz on Wednesday, Nola stated where he thinks Wheeler stacks up among the best pitchers in the sport — top two, and not two, if you will.

“To me, he’s the best pitcher in the Major Leagues,” Nola said. “I mean, he shows it every year. The way he can command the baseball with all his pitches and pitch at that high velocity, I really don’t see it much around the league. A guy who takes the ball every single time and never wants to come out of the game — it’s pretty awesome to be [on] the same team as him.”

We won’t get too in the weeds debating between Wheeler and Gerrit Cole, other than stating it’s hard (though perhaps not impossible, especially if recent postseason success holds significant weight) to argue against the Yankees’ reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. We will, however, posit that it’s hard to argue Wheeler ranks much lower than second — even if MLB Network recently made a curious decision by slotting an NL East rival ahead of him.

Besides, if Cole holds the edge, what else is Nola going to say? He’s his teammate. And he made it clear on Wednesday that he hopes to be his teammate for a long time coming.

“I hope we can get something done with him. He’s obviously a big part of this staff and organization; team. Since he’s been here, what he’s done for this team has been spectacular,” Nola said. “I love being his teammate, and I really hope we can get something done with him.”

Must-read Phillies content

• Merrill Kelly ate his words — kind of — on Citizens Bank Park. Phillies Nation’s Tim Kelly explains.
• Bryson Stott made Tim Kelly’s list over at Bleacher Report of 10 underrated players who might not be underrated after this season.
• Never afraid to stand out, Brandon Marsh is one of few Phillies who likes the new Nike uniforms, as Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Most hate them so much they wouldn’t give their names. Why not Marsh? Read to learn his hilarious reasoning.
• Matt Gelb of The Athletic wrote about Bryce Harper, his first “normal” spring as a Phillie and his learning curve at first base.

Former Phillie Nation

• The Phillies may or may not have had any interest in Ken Giles — whose last appearance with the club came on the same 2015 day as David Buchanan’s — but he seemed intent Wednesday on indicating they should’ve. Appearing now as a division rival with the Atlanta Braves, Giles faced Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm in the third inning, striking all of them out swinging on a total of 15 pitches. Frankly, he was nasty.

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