Philadelphia Phillies fans have a reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving.

The Phillies reached an agreement Sunday with co-ace Aaron Nola on a seven-year, $172 million contract, two persons with direct knowledge told USA TODAY Sports. It's the largest contract for a pitcher in Phillies history.

Nola, who made $ 16 million last season and was one of the top pitchers on the free-agent market, is the latest free-agent expenditure for the Phillies. The team has seven players under long-term contracts paying at least $100 million. He will make approximately $24.5 million per year.

Nola is the Phillies No. 2 starter behind Zack Wheeler. He could be the ace of the staff. His best season was in 2018 when he went 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA and 184 strikeouts. He made the National League All-Star team and was third in Cy Young voting. He was top 10 in Cy Young voting twice — 2020 (5-5 with a 3.28 ERA and 96 strikeouts) and 2022 (11-13 with a 3.25 ERA with 235 strikeouts).

Nola was 12-9 with a 4.46 ERA last season with 202 strikeouts. During his nine-year career, he's reached the 200-strikeout plateau five times. In the postseason, Nola is 5-3 with a 3.70 ERA and 50 strikeouts.

Beyond those numbers, the big thing Nola does is eat innings. Since the start of the 2018 season, Nola’s 1065.1 innings pitched are the 2nd-most in the majors. In 2023, Nola went at least 6.0 IP in 22 of his 33 starts. His 22 outings of 6.0 or more innings were tied for the ninth most in the majors.

Bob Nightengale contributed to this story

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Aaron Nola signs seven-year, 172M deal with Philadelphia Phillies