Announcements » — Aaron Nola’s pitching has taken a dow

ATLANTA nturn this month Ryon Healy Jersey , mirroring the struggles of the Philadelphia Phillies.Nola, though, still has at least a chance to earn some National League Cy Young Award votes while his team plays out the string.The Atlanta Braves clinched the NL East title Saturday with a third straight victory over Philadelphia at SunTrust Park, this time 5-3, and Nola won’t get a chance to keep the Phillies alive when he takes the mound in Sunday’s series finale.Article continues below ...The Braves (87-68) took advantage of the 6-14 swoon in September by the Phillies (78-76) to clinch with more than a week left in the regular season after losing at least 90 games each of the past three seasons during the rebuild.“It’s been a grind, but this makes it all worth it,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said of the team’s first division title since 2013. “We put it all together this season and it is fantastic.“We all knew we had this in us. We just needed to see the young guys come through and they did. I came up and we were winning. To go through the last four years, you cherish these moments. It’s been a long time for us to get back.”The Braves prevailed thanks to a 46-23 record against other teams in the NL East, including 10-5 against the Phillies with four games still to play.Philadelphia rearranged its rotation so that Nola (16-5 http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , 2.44 ERA) would start the finale of the series in Atlanta and the first game in Philadelphia next weekend. Now the 25-year-old right-hander just has Cy Young votes to pitch for and it may be too late there as well.Nola entered September with a 2.10 ERA and near-equal billing with Washington’s Max Scherzer and the New York Mets’ Jacob deGrom.After going 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA in five August starts, however, Nola is 1-2 with a 5.01 ERA in four September outings and the eight homers he has allowed match the total from his first 27 starts.Manager Gabe Kapler is still in Nola’s corner, though.“I would just blindly vote for Nola,” he said before the Braves series. “I care so much about Nola and his candidacy that I won’t even go into expressing how I would evaluate. I think he’s been the best pitcher in the National League.”Nola, the seventh overall pick in the 2014 draft out of LSU, has 210 strikeouts in 199 1/3 innings and could join some famous Phillies pitchers this season.In the past 50 years, only Steve Carlton (twice), Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee have had at least 200 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.40 or better in a season among club annals.Nola has had plenty of success against Atlanta. He is 6-2 with a 2.24 ERA in 10 career starts against the Braves http://www.marinersfanproshop.com/authentic-edgar-martinez-jersey , including 1-1 with a 2.95 ERA in his three starts this season.Veteran right-hander Anibal Sanchez (6-6, 3.01 ERA) will pitch the series finale for the Braves and try to snap an eight-start winless streak. He has three losses and five no-decisions despite a 3.24 ERA during the stretch.Sanchez hasn’t faced Philadelphia this year but is 4-9 with a 4.91 ERA in career starts against the Phillies.Phillies first baseman Carlos Santana has the most career at-bats against Sanchez from their time together in the American League, hitting .250 in 32 at-bats with three extra-base hits and six walks.Freeman has a .318 average and a homer in 22 at-bats against Nola, and right fielder Nick Markakis had two homers in 25 at-bats and a .250 average in 25 at-bats. We're well into February, yet the Bryce Harper and Manny Machado sweepstakes linger on.Following his meeting with the Giants last week, one sportsbook has listed them as favorites to sign him at +100.The Padres, who also met with Harper, are second at +250. The Phillies, who met with Harper last month Felix Hernandez Jersey , are third at +400.Here we are on the verge of spring training, yet Bryce Harper and Manny Machado have not signed anywhere. In fact, new teams are emerging from the woodwork to ink the superstars.The San Francisco Giants are the most recent team to make their pitch in the Harper sweepstakes. They met with him in his hometown of Las Vegas last week and things reportedly went well. Well enough for one sportsbook to make them the favorite to sign Harper.Phillies Acquire J.T. Realmuto From Marlins, Improve World Series OddsRead nowBryce Harper Free Agency OddsGiants: +100Padres: +250Phillies: +400Dodgers: +750Nationals: +1000These odds surprise me, as they appear to be based solely off the fact that there was a meeting between the two parties. Just a month ago, the Phillies also met with Harper in Vegas — a meeting that actually helped move their World Series odds from +1600 to +1200.The Phillies have since moved to +1000 by acquiring J.T. Realmuto, but could certainly fall back if they can’t sign Harper or Machado.Like San Fran, the Padres also emerged out of nowhere in the mega free agent market. They also met with Harper in Vegas at the beginning of the month and are probably in a better position as an organization than the Giants are.Though San Francisco won three World Series titles this decade, the Giants’ roster is old and the farm system is poor. Meanwhile Hisashi Iwakuma Jersey , San Diego is on the up and coming, with some of the best prospects in the bigs and the ability to trade for more pieces.I personally bet on the Phillies at +400. Before these NL West squads emerged, the Phillies had established themselves as the favorite for Harper, and many believe they will sign either him or Machado. By acquiring Realmuto, they’ve pushed their chips forward.Philly is in win-now mode, and failing to sign either of these superstars would make the offseason a loss in their minds despite adding multiple other pieces. Harper would also pay far less in taxes in Pennsylvania than he would in Cali.Loads more MLB content is coming over the next couple months, so stay tuned. We’ll of course cover how futures are impacted once Harper and Machado do sign, too.