The Kansas City Royals reportedly reached an agreement with free-agent catcher Austin Nola on Thursday. Nola, 34, has spent the past four seasons with the San Diego Padres. He had a.152 batting average in 52 games in 2023. This offseason, Nola signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. He also received an invitation to major league camp. The Brewers released Nola on Thursday. The Royals are signing Nola to a major-league contract, according to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic.
Nola is another veteran catcher. He joins Royals captain Salvador Perez, Freddy Fermin, Sandy Leon, Logan Porter, and Tyler Cropley as veterans with MLB experience. The Royals also have young prospects Luca Tresh, Rodolfo Duran, and Carter Jensen in camp.
Nola can help the Royals in a variety of ways. Last season, he played with seasoned pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. He has past experience dealing with both pitchers. Furthermore, Nola had a 1.97 pop time and threw out three of 29 base runners. Nola also had a 43.1% strikeout rate, according to Baseball Savant. Nola framed 50.5% of his strikes around the top of the striking zone.
The Royals begin Cactus League play on Friday.
