Phillies news and links — Aaron Nola isn’t getting better

Last night’s game was a bit of a heartbreaker, wasn’t it. Another late lead lost. Another five solid minutes of me shouting at my television, trying to melt it or the Phillies or Wrigley Field with my brain. (It didn’t work.) For the full postmortem, check out Victor’s recap of the game.

So, about Aaron Nola...

The news isn’t good, kids. He’s still feeling something nagging in his back, and he’s heading back to Philadelphia for an MRI.

Yuck. Very yuck. I’m not sure if I hope that the MRI will show nothing, so all he needs to do is rest, or if I want the MRI to show a definitive problem, which could be terrible, but would have a course of action. It’ll be one or the other, and we’ll hopefully find out today or Friday.

Pat Venditte is exceeding expectations

Tom Housenick of the Morning Call wrote some excellent words about Pat Venditte, the Phillies’ ambidextrous pitcher. Venditte is killing it down in Triple-A, and people are starting to pay attention.

The Phillies won’t face Cole Hamels after all

Cole Hamels, who never get injured, is injured. He’s strained his oblique and will be out eight weeks. That means when the Phillies face the Rangers NEXT MONTH, there’s no chance they’ll see Cole Hamels. (On the mound, at least. He might just, you know, be there.) I’m disappointed, because I love him so much still, and I miss him.

Ben Badler thinks Daniel Brito is swell

Baseball America’s prospect guru Ben Badler talked about Daniel Brito, and Ben really likes him.

Yaaaaaaas.

Phillies think Aaron Altherr is hot

They do! Just, uh, not in the way you think.

The correct answer is: him. Himself. Aaron Altherr, human man, is hot. Need proof?

Photo by David Banks/Getty Images

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

I love Aaron Altherr.

Around the Phight

• All-Star voting is open! Vote for the Phillies! Just do it, don’t think about it too much!
• John Stolnis used an inning from Tuesday’s Cubs game to illustrate the Phillies’ offensive problems.
• This isn’t technically around the Phight, but Ryan Romano at Beyond the Box Score wrote about Maikel Franco, and why his stat line doesn’t really reveal how well he’s been doing.

Tweet(s) of the day

Why.

I’ve heard a lot of euphemisms for male genitalia, but I don’t think I’ve heard that one.

Hey Phillies: WALK MORE.