Kansas City Royals sign catcher Austin Nola, who was released by the Brewers
The Kansas City Royals reportedly agreed to terms with free-agent catcher Austin Nola on Thursday — then made the signing official with an announcement Friday morning.
Nola, 34, spent the last four seasons with the San Diego Padres. He produced a .152 batting average in 52 games during the 2023 campaign. This offseason, Nola signed a minor-league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. He also received an invitation to big-league camp.
The Brewers released Nola on Thursday. The Royals placed Kris Bubic on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.
Nola is another experienced catcher. He joins Royals captain Salvador Perez, Freddy Fermin, Sandy Leon, Logan Porter and Tyler Cropley as veterans with MLB service time.
The Royals also have young prospects Luca Tresh, Rodolfo Duran and Carter Jensen in camp.
Nola can help the Royals in several ways. He was teammates with veteran pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha last season. He brings prior knowledge working with both pitchers.
Additionally, Nola registered a 1.97 pop time and threw out three of 29 base runners. Nola also produced a 43.1% strike rate, per Baseball Savant. Nola framed 50.5% of his strikes at the top of the strike zone.
This story was originally published February 22, 2024 at 9:12 PM.
