Austin Nola #22

Austin resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., with his wife, Michelle and son, Vinny...changed his number during the Spring of 2021 from 22 to 26, following the birth of his son on March 26, 2020...Graduated from Louisiana State University, where he played four seasons from 2009-2012...was teammates with his brother, Aaron, as a senior in 2012...named Second Team All-SEC and SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player for the Tigers in 2010...received the Wally Pontiff Award as LSU’s top scholar-athlete in 2012... Attended Catholic High School (La.), where he was named the 2008 Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year.

2023

Suffered a fractured nose after being hit in the face by an errant pitch during 2023 Spring Training and that injury hindered him all season…was diagnosed with oculomotor dysfunction, which impairs the brain’s ability to coordinate eye movement... Began the season with San Diego and played in 52 games with the Padres, but was optioned to Triple-A El Paso on July 18, where he played in only eight games before ending the season on the Injured List... Committed just one error in 381 chances with San Diego for a .997 fielding percentage... Was the starting catcher for 11 games with now-Royals teammates Michael Wacha (six) and Seth Lugo (five), in which the batterymates combined for a 2.87 ERA (19 ER in 59.2 IP) and the Padres went 8-3 in those games...Was the starting catcher on May 15 vs. the Royals, when he caught 7.0 innings of no-hit ball from Michael Wacha before Michael Massey broke up the no-hit bid with a single to begin the eighth…Wacha also recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts.

2022

In his fourth Major-League season, notched career highs in games (110), runs (40), hits (87), doubles (15), RBI (40), stolen bases (two), walks (34) and total bases (114)....Caught a career-high 834.2 innings across a career-high 101 games (94 starts) behind the dish, surpassing his previous career mark from 2021 (399.0 innings caught)....Ranked sixth among NL catchers in innings, total chances (865) and putouts (833), while his .994 fielding percentage ranked seventh in the league. ...On Sept. 21 vs. St. Louis, caught his 10th shutout victory of the season and served as the Padres’ backstop for 10 of the 15 shutout wins on the year. ...Among NL catchers, ranked among the leaders offensively in singles (fifth, 68), walks (sixth, 34), games (seventh, 110), hits (eighth, 87), runs (ninth, 40), doubles (ninth, 15), RBI (ninth, 40), total bases (ninth, 114) and AVG (10th, .251). ...His nine sac flies tied for 4th-most in the Majors with three others....On June 24 vs. PHI, drove in the game-winning run off his brother, Aaron, to become the 1st player in the Modern Era (since 1900) to get a game-winning hit off his brother that was the only RBI of the game....Over his final eight games of the regular season, hit .320 with three doubles and three RBI. ...Collected a hit in 12 of his last 18 games at a .302 clip with five extra-base hits and six RBI. ...Capped his season reaching base in 54 of his last 70 gamesat a .277 clip with 11 2B, three HR & 26 RBI. 

POSTSEASON: In his second career Postseason, logged 95.0 innings behind the plate, marking the most innings by a catcher in Padres' franchise history, surpassing Carlos Hernandez's 92.0 innings during the 1998 Postseason....His 11 starts behind the plate were a single-Postseason franchise high, which was previously held by Terry Kennedy (10 GS) in 1984. ...Collected a hit in each of the first four Postseason games, tying Carlos Hernandez's four game hitting streak in 1998 for the second-longest in a Postseason by a Padre catcher (Terry Kennedy's five-game hit streak in the 1984 playoffs is the longest by a Padres' catcher). ...Collected a hit 7 of his 12 games at a .225 clip (9-for-40) with two doubles and five RBI, for a .548 OPS. ...During the Division Series vs. Los Angeles (NL), hit .333 (4-for-12) with a double and two RBI. 

2021

In his 2nd season with the Padres, played in 56 games with a .272 AVG (47-for-173), 12 2B, 2 HR, 29 RBI, 14 BB, and a .340 OBP. ...Began the season on the 10-day Injured List after he fractured the middle finger on his left (catching) hand on March 12 in Spring Training…a few weeks later, he began working in drills and hitting but his return was delayed further by recurring swelling. ...Was reinstated from the IL on April 28 and was placed on the 10-day IL a month later on May 28 with a left knee sprain...hit .217 with a .373 OBP in 18 G through May 24. ...Made a rehab stint with El Paso (AAA), batting .303 (10-for-33) in 11 G... reinstated on July 22 and hit .291 (37- for-127) before landing back on the IL with a left thumb strain on Sept. 24 (sustained a sore left thumb and wrist on Sept. 21 @ SF after Brandon Belt slid into his glove hand in a play at the plate)...transferred to the 60-day IL on Oct. 1st (left thumb strain). ...Behind the plate, appeared in 48 games (46 starts) with 399.0 innings caught...caught three runners stealing in 29 stolen base attempts with four passed balls...appeared in one game at first base and four games at second base. ...From Aug. 1 through the end of the season, led the Padres in AVG (.301, 34-for-113) among those with at least 30 G played in that time.

2020

Acquired on August 30 by SD prior to the trade deadline in one of the club's 6 deadline deals...sent to SD from SEA along with RHPs Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla in exchange for C Luis Torrens, INF Ty France, OF Taylor Trammell and RHP Andres Muñoz... Jason Castro -- who was acquired by SD from LAA 45 minutes later the same night as Nola -- were competing against one another in Anaheim in their prior series...since C's Austin Hedges and Luis Torrens had been traded, Nola and Castro made the round-trip flight to Colorado and back to Anaheim later that night...the Padres sent a car service for both of them, and put both of them on a private jet to Denver Monday morning... Made his Padres debut on August 31 @ COL, going 1-for-3 and catching a 6-0 shutout win...it was his 1st hit since he singled on Aug. 27 vs. San Diego (had gone 5-for-9 with a HR in the series prior @ SD)...reliever Trevor Rosenthal, who was acquired from Kansas City on August 29, came in to pitch a scoreless 9th inning, and the 2 met when they shook hands for the 1st time after the win... Caught a shutout in 4 of his 1st 8 starts at catcher for the Padres (Aug. 31 @ COL, Sept. 4 @ OAK, Sept. 7 vs. COL and Sept. 13 vs. SF), and each shutout was with a different starting pitcher (Garrett Richards, Zach Davies, Dinelson Lamet and Mike Clevinger)...the Padres had 1 shutout prior to Nola's arrival (Aug. 7 vs. ARI, which was caught by Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia)... In 19 games with San Diego, he hit .222 (14-for-63) with 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 9 runs scored and 9 RBI... Logged a career-long 8-game hitting streak from August 19-27...also had a career-long on-base streak, reaching via hit/BB/HBP in 14 consecutive games from Aug. 19-Sept. 5 (.429 OBP)... His 44 games in the squat ranked 2nd most in baseball behind Martin Maldonado's 47 games...Nola's 330.0 innings at C ranked 7th most... Batted 3rd for the 1st time with SD on Sept. 14 vs. LAD, becoming the 1st Padre to do so since Yasmani Grandal in 2014... Hit .312 (34-for-109) vs. RHP and .192 (10-for-52) vs. lefties... Hit .324 with runners on base (22-for-68)...Ended the season with a 3-game hitting streak (his longest as a Padre), going 4-for-10 with a double.

POSTSEASON: Made his 1st career Postseason appearance, catching all 6 games (5 starts) in the Wild Card Round vs. STL and the NLDS vs. LAD...hit .118 (2-for17) with 3 RBI and 4 walks... Caught 48.0 innings without making a single error or allowing a pass ball (46 total chances).

2019

Hit .269 (64x238) with 37 runs, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 10 home runs, 31 RBI, 4 HBP, 23 walks, a .342 on-base percentage and a .454 slugging percentage (.796 OPS) in 79 games with the Mariners...Posted a .998 fielding percentage (500 TC, 1 E) over 87 appearances at six different positions…appeared defensively at first base (59 G, 44 GS), second base (15 G, 13 GS), catcher (7 G, 4 GS), third base (4 G, 1 GS), left field (1 G) and right field (1 GS)...1 of 3 Mariners rookies to record at least 10 doubles and 10 home runs in fewer than 250 at-bats…joins Jay Buhner (1988, 192 AB, 13 2B, 10 HR) and José Cruz Jr. (1997, 183 AB, 12 2B, 12 HR)...Had 5 multi-RBI games, including a career-high 5 RBI on September 5 at Houston, and a trio of 3-RBI games...Made his Major League debut at the age of 29 years, 170 days, becoming the 10th-oldest position player to make his big league debut with the Mariners…Dae-Ho Lee is the oldest (33 years, 288 days, 4/4/16 at TEX)...Made his Major League debut on June 16 at Oakland…recorded his first Major League hit - a single - off Tanner Anderson in the top of the 3rd...Road Warrior - Hit 9 of his 10 home runs on the road…posted a .284/.339/.578 slash line (.916 OPS) on the road…marked the best road OPS by a Mariners rookie in club history (min. 100 PA on the road)...Hit safely in 7 straight games, August 13-20, batting .414 (12x29)...Homered and had 2 hits in 3 straight games, August 17-19...Had a career-high 4 hits on Sept. 15 vs. Chicago-AL…his 4th hit ignited a game-winning rally in the bottom of the 9th…was 4-for-5 with 1 run, 2 RBI and 1 walk....Hit his first Major League home run off Wade Miley on June 28 at Houston....Hit 10 home runs…his brother, Aaron, was 12-7 in 34 starts with Philadelphia…Austin and Aaron became the first set of brothers to record 10 home runs and 10 wins in a season since George Brett-KC (22 HR) and Ken Brett-CWS/CAL (13 W) in 1977....Selected from Triple-A Tacoma on June 16…in 55 games with Tacoma, hit .327 (64x196) with 36 runs, 15 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs, 37 RBI, 29 walks and a .935 OPS (.415 OBP / .520 SLG)…hit safely in 39 games, including 19 multi-hit games.

2018

In 69 games with Triple-A New Orleans, hit .279 (63x226) with 26 runs, 16 doubles, 2 homer and 32 RBI…vs. lefties, hit .367 (18x49), compared to .254 (45x177) vs. right-handers.

2017

In first season as catcher, split time between Double-A Jacksonville and Triple-A New Orleans...Began campaign as Jumbo Shrimp's primary catcher, batting .250 (42x168) with seven doubles, two home runs, and 25 RBI over 54 games...Hit just .158 (9x57) in 16 April games. Over final 38 games with Jacksonville, hit .297 (33x111), including a .315 mark (17x54) in June...Tallied three hits on June 3 at Pensacola, finishing 3x4 with a double and one RBI. Equaled hit total on June 10 at Biloxi, going 3x4 with two runs scored, a double, and one RBI... Drove in four runs on June 11 at Biloxi to mark season-high...Promoted to New Orleans on June 30 and finished season with Baby Cakes, appearing in 29 games with a .202 average (18x89), four doubles, one home run and six RBI...Recorded season-high four hits on August 29 at Oklahoma City, finishing 4x5 with a double and an RBI.

2016

Played entire season with Triple-A New Orleans, hitting career-high six home runs with career-high .261 (97x372) batting average...Tied career high (second time) with four RBI on May 11 vs. Colorado Springs, going 3x4 with a double...Batted .310 (26x84) with seven doubles, a home run and 11 RBI after August 1, covering final 26 games...Matched career high with four hits (4x5), with a double and two runs scored, on August 15 at Las Vegas...Finished year on season-best seven-game hitting streak (.435/10x23), with three doubles, a home run, and five RBI...Primarily played second base (56 games) while also spending time at shortstop (32) and third base (22)...Following the season, played eight games for Mesa Solar Sox in Arizona Fall League, batting .273 (6x22) with a double, two RBI and five runs scored while beginning conversion from infielder to catcher...Received the AFL Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award as player who best exemplified unselfishness, hard work, and leadership.

2015

Split 2015 season between Double-A Jacksonville (69 games) and Triple-A New Orleans (61)...Was batting just .211 with Suns through June 27, when he was promoted to NOLA...Opened stint with Zephyrs with 3x4 effort on June 14 vs. Omaha, and proceeded to bat .330 (33x100) in 27 games in July...Tied career high with four hits on July 4 vs. Iowa...With Jacksonville, batted .206 against right-handed pitching, compared to .306 with NOLA...Most frequent spot in lineup with NOLA was first and seventh; batted .288 as leadoff hitter and .341 in seven spot.

2014

Spent entire 2014 season with Double-A Jacksonville, where he tied for Southern League lead in walks (77), ranked second in games played (134) and third in at-bats (499)...Recorded career-high three doubles May 15 at Pensacola...Hit .514 (18x35) with seven runs, seven doubles, two triples, one home run and seven RBI during eight-game hitting streak from May 15-23...Set career high with four hits May 22 vs. Jackson; matched high on August 1 at Huntsville...Had career-long 17-game hitting streak from June 15-July 5 (.413/31x75, 13 r, 4 2b, 2 3b, 9 rbi)...Streak tied Patrick Kivlehan of Jackson for third-longest of season in Southern League, behind a 26-game streak for Rangel Ravelo (Birmingham) and an 18-game streak for Corey..Hit .319 (29x91) in June, with 17 runs, two doubles, one triple, 11 RBI and 18 walks...In Southern League Championship Series victory, went 3x9 with five runs, two RBI and six walks in three games as leadoff hitter.

2013

Spent entire season with Single-A Jupiter...Had season-long hitting streak of six games from June 4-10...Batted .440 (11x25) during streak, with three doubles and two RBI...Recorded a .287 (45x157) average against left-handed pitchers, compared to .199 (47x256) against right-handers...Batting average with runners in scoring position was .274 (31x113)...Turned in a .263 (55x209) average prior to All-Star break; fell to .203 (41x204) in second half of season...Committed two errors on final day of season, snapping a season-long streak of 26 games without a miscue.