Austin Nola


Austin Kyle Nola is an American professional baseball infielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. He previously attended Louisiana State University, where he played college baseball for the LSU Tigers and was a member of the 2009 College World Series champions.

Career

Amateur career

Nola attended Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Playing for the school's baseball team, he was named All-State for Louisiana in all four years he played for Catholic. He was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 48th round of the 2008 MLB draft, but he did not sign.
He enrolled at Louisiana State University and played college baseball for the LSU Tigers. In 2009, his freshman year, he played shortstop for the Tigers, with DJ LeMahieu shifting to second base, as the Tigers won the College World Series. In 2010 and 2011, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League. The Toronto Blue Jays selected Nola in the 31st round of the 2011 MLB draft, but he did not sign, instead returning to LSU for his senior year. The Miami Marlins selected Nola in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB draft, and he signed for a $75,000 signing bonus.

Miami Marlins

The Marlins assigned Nola to the Jamestown Jammers of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League and promoted him to the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the Class A South Atlantic League later in the 2012 season. He played for the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in 2013 and the Jacksonville Suns of the Class AA Southern League in 2014. After the 2014 season, the Marlins assigned Nola to the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League. He began the 2014 season with Jacksonville, and was promoted to the New Orleans Zephyrs of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in June 2015. Nola's name appears on the front and back of his uniform, as the Baby Cakes wear "NOLA", the abbreviation for "New Orleans, Louisiana", on the front of their uniforms.
The Marlins added Nola to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season. In 2017, Nola began to play catcher. He was designated for assignment on March 29, 2018. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. In 2018, Nola batted.279/.370/.376 with 2 home runs and 32 RBIs for the New Orleans Baby Cakes of the PCL, while playing 68 games in his second season as a catcher.

Seattle Mariners

Nola elected free agency on November 2, 2018, and signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners on November 9, 2018. He opened the 2019 season with the Tacoma Rainiers of the PCL. The Mariners promoted Nola to the 25-man roster on June 16, 2019. He made his Major League debut the same day, starting at first base and going 1-2 with a run scored in a 6-3 win over the Oakland Athletics. He finished the season hitting.269/.342/.454/.796 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI.

Personal life

Austin played baseball at LSU with his younger brother, Aaron, who pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Nolas are of Italian descent; their great-grandparents emigrated to Baton Rouge from Sicily.