Despite the 2025 season technically still on-going, with the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers set to face off in the World Series, the Atlanta Braves decided to get their 2025-2026 offseason started early by scooping up veteran catcher Austin Nola.
Austin Nola is the brother of Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola, who the Braves pursued two offseasons ago and obviously fell short of closing the deal.
Braves add catching depth after signing Austin Nola
Nola certainly has not had the same degree of success as his brother, Aaron. While Aaron Nola is a former All-Star who signed a a seven-year, $172 million deal with the Phillies prior to the 2024 season during a free agency where he was pursued by the Braves, Austin has been a journeyman catcher.
In fact, despite being the older brother, Austin Nola didn't even make his debut in the major leagues until 2019, 170 days after his 29th birthday.
Despite his late start in the majors, Nola was a reliable backstop for the Mariners and Padres through 2022, where he provided a league average bat with inconsistent defense. Unfortunately, his bat saw a dramatic regression in 2023, hitting .146/.260/.192, and he's struggled to stay on a big league roster since then.
Nola has been with the Brewers, Royals, and Rockies organizations since 2023, but only appeared in MLB games for the Rockies this past season. With the Rockies, Nola slashed .184/.225/.211 with an 8 wRC+ and was worth -0.4 fWAR.
If there was any question whether he should try his hand at pitching like his younger brother, it was squashed when he appeared on the mound in an August blowout against the eventual AL champions and allowed eight runs, including two bombs, in one inning. His 29.14 FIP is slightly better than his 72.00 ERA.
While Drake Baldwin has fully cemented himself on the Braves, and with Sean Murphy still under contract for at least another two seasons, Nola's pathway to the big leagues on the Braves looks limited. However, as 2021 demonstrated, you can never have too many catchers.