Mariners' Austin Nola: To see plenty of time at catcher
Nola, who's hitting .250 (4-for-16) with one RBI and two runs over his first six Cactus League games, will split playing time at catcher with Tom Murphy fairly evenly this season, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.
The Mariners traded Omar Narvaez to the Brewers this offseason, leaving the primary backup job at catcher to Nola, who logged time most of his time at first base during his rookie 2019 campaign. However, manager Scott Servais confirmed Thursday that he envisions Nola being very close in playing time to Murphy in an effort to help prevent wear and tear on both players. "I think it's really going to be a balance," Servais said. "Everybody says, 'Oh, Murphy is the starting catcher.' He'll start Opening Night, probably. We'll see. But those guys are going to be more of a 55-45 [percent split]. They're both going to play a very similar amount."
