Colorado Rockies DFA Veteran Catcher

After just 41 plate appearances this season at the big leagues, all over the past month, veteran catcher Austin Nola will be searching for a new home, as the Colorado Rockies have DFA'd the 35-year-old backstop.

Ironically, the last memory of Nola with the Rockies will not be anything he did behind the plate, but rather on the mound, where he pitched mop-up duty last week and surrendered eight hits and eight earned runs in one inning. 

Austin Nola doing his best impersonation of his brother Aaron pic.twitter.com/YjvGxf278s

— Jack 🃏 John (@jnewszn) August 6, 2025

Austin is the older brother of Philadelphia Phillies perennial Cy Young candidate starter, Aaron Nola. Safe to say, he isn't quite the same pitcher as his brother. 

At the plate, Austin Nola didn't perform that well either this season, with a .184 average and a .436 OPS. At Triple-A, however, with Albuquerque, he showed he's still got something in his bat, hitting .347 in 106 plate appearances, with an .885 OPS and 19 RBIs in 26 games. 

Nola spent the first seven years of his pro career toiling in the minors before finally making his debut in The Show in 2019. And he showed some promise, putting up decent numbers for the Seattle Mariners. In two years with the Ms, he batted .280 in 108 games with an .827 OPS, along with 15 homers and 50 RBIs. 

But he moved on to San Diego, where, although he maintained a decent average for a couple of seasons, his power production disappeared, and he batted just .146 in 2023. Nola spent 2024 all in the minors. 

Photo: © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images