Seattle Mariners are mis-using Austin Nola
Austin Nola, Seattle Mariners. (Photo by Dinur, via Flickr)
Due to injury, the Seattle Mariners have Austin Nola as their number one catcher. His talents would better help the team in a different role.
In sports, the best-laid plans usually go astray due to unforeseen circumstances. For example, Tom Murphy was slated to be the Seattle Mariners primary catcher in 2020. A broken bone in his foot just days before the start of the season derailed that plan and forced the M’s into plan B.
Austin Nola received a battlefield promotion from Murphy’s back up to his replacement. His ability at the dish isn’t in question, behind it is a different story. Nola is an excellent second option, but he isn’t an everyday Major League backstop.
After a third of the 2020 season, Nola ranks 36th out of 38 American League catchers in Defensive Wins Above Replacement. dWAR is an advanced metric that compares a player to the value of a replacement at the major league average. With -0.2 dWAR, he is well below the average.
That should come as no surprise to the Seattle Mariners faithful. They’ve seen the four wild pitches; two passed balls, as well as his failure to throw out any of the 10 base-stealers, he’s attempted. The problems go deeper.
With Nola behind the plate, opponents have a slash line of .240/337/.424/.761. For reference, only five Seattle Mariners have an OPS over .761 (including Nola). The M’s team offensive slash line is .226/.304/.366/.671.
Additionally, Mariners pitchers have a 5.80 ERA with Nola as their catcher. That number kills a team that scores an average (earned and unearned) of 4.1 runs per game. Because the M’s struggle with hitting as a team, they can’t afford to give away runs on the other side. There is an alternative.
Oppo-tacos for breakfast. 😋#TrueToTheBlue x Austin Nola pic.twitter.com/Tm7I3l1Ogs
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 18, 2019