The other Nola is on his way to the National League.
Austin Nola, the older brother of Phillies ace Aaron Nola, has been traded from the Mariners to the Padres in a seven-player deal.
Austin is 30 years old and has been productive since the day he debuted last summer. In 377 plate appearances in the majors, he's hit .280/.351/.476 with 15 homers and 50 RBI. He's been better in the majors than he was in more than 3,000 plate appearances in the minors.
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The elder Nola has started 20 games behind the plate this season and can also play first, second and third base.
The Padres have Eric Hosmer and new acquisition Mitch Moreland capable of playing first base. They have Jake Cronenworth, maybe the NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner as of today, at second base. Their left side of the infield is obviously set with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Nola would likely catch for them.
San Diego has been aggressive this weekend, acquiring reliever Trevor Rosenthal from the Royals, catcher Jason Castro from the Angels and Moreland from the Red Sox. The Padres have also been connected to starting pitchers Lance Lynn and Mike Clevinger.
The Padres are 21-15. They're in second place in the NL West, five games behind the Dodgers but three games ahead of the Rockies. Eight teams in each league will make the playoffs this season and the Friars are in great shape to end a 14-year drought.
MLB
The Nolas played together for one season at LSU in 2012 when Aaron was a freshman and Austin was a senior. Austin was drafted in the fifth round by the Marlins in 2012 but granted free agency after the 2018 season. Seattle swooped in to sign him and has reaped the unexpected rewards.