Austin

Nola

Nola is headed to Seattle to become the club’s next bullpen coach after signing a minor league pact with Atlanta last month. The 35-year-old backstop will hang up his catcher’s gear after six seasons in the big leagues since 2019. He appeared in 14 contests for the Rockies this past season.

The Braves already re-signed Sandy León as a likely Triple-A catcher, but here’s another option. Nola, who turns 35 in December, went 7-for-38 with one RBI in 14 games for the Rockies this year. He’s a lifetime .247/.323/.364 hitter in the majors, but he hasn’t had any success since 2022.

Since Braxton Fulford was called up as a third catcher option last Monday, he’d started four games, including two at DH, to Nola’s none, making it easy to see where things were heading. Nola was just 7-for-38 with one extra-base hit and one RBI over 41 plate appearances in his six weeks with the club.

There haven’t been any rumblings about the 25-year-old All-Star backstop dealing with any sort of injury, but he did sit out the final game before the Mid-Summer Classic and he’s sitting on Friday night as well which is at least a bit curious. Austin Nola will start in his place behind the dish on Friday night and bat eighth against Chris Paddack and the Twins.

Goodman will get a day of maintenance against right-hander Lucas Giolito and the Boston bullpen. The 25-year-old All-Star selection will sit with Austin Nola catching and hitting ninth.

Goodman has gone 3-for-17 with two round-trippers in four contests since returning earlier this week from a four-game absence due to a hamstring issue. It’ll be veteran Austin Nola behind the plate on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field.

Nola will occupy a backup role behind Rockies starting catcher Hunter Goodman and can be safely ignored in virtually all fantasy formats.

Hunter Goodman appears headed to the injured list with a hamstring strain after missing the club’s last four games. Nothing official yet, but it seems inevitable with Nola coming up to take a roster spot ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Astros.

The Rockies continue to make completely baffling roster decisions. Their latest masterpiece involves the combination of jettisoning Nolan Jones to Cleveland at the absolute nadir of his trade value before shipping one of their top prospects in Veen to Triple-A instead of letting him play everyday in the majors. It’ll be Jordan Beck opening the year in right field with journeyman Nick Martini in left field. You can’t make this stuff up, seriously.

Stallings, 35, was re-signed to a one-year contract in November with a mutual option for 2025. The expectation is that he’ll see the bulk of the starts behind the plate and Drew Romo, Hunter Goodman and Austin Nola will battle for backup duties. Even playing at Coors Field half of the time, Stallings offers minimal fantasy upside for the coming campaign.