Saturday night, news dropped that the Phillies were placing ace righty Zack Wheeler on the injured list due to a blood clot in his shoulder area. More on that in a second.  Sunday, veteran right-hander Aaron Nola returned from a lengthy stint on the injured list.

The Philadelphia Phillies' rotation is suddenly in a weird spot, and Aaron Nola needs to perform better than he did on Sunday.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola’s first start after returning from the injured list didn’t last long. The right-hander allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Washington

The Phillies entered the weekend with one of the best rotations in the league. Much of that stability changed in about 24 hours.

Nola, 32, had a 6.16 ERA in nine starts prior to his ankle injury, which was his first trip to the injured list for a non-COVID reason since a back issue sidelined him for a month in 2017. This is Year 2 of Nola's seven-year, $172 million contract.

Aaron Nola checked the final box in his rehab process on Tuesday night when he struck out 11 batters over 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The most obvious effect is that there will be an extra day’s rest for the entirety of the rotation for at least one time through, maybe two depending on the on field results. Considering that there is at least one, maybe two, starters that looks like he can use that day off, it could be a good thing.