A surplus of backstops

With Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin already in the mix, the Royals are adding veteran catcher Austin Nola to the team.

The Royals are still out there making moves. The latest came on Thursday night as the team added another catcher to their 40-man roster.

Austin Nola arrives in Kansas City after stops in Seattle and San Diego. He was non-tendered by the Padres after last season (more on his 2023 later) and was picked up by the Brewers on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. He was, as Rogers noted, released by the Brewers on Thursday. That move came after Milwaukee made their on-again, off-again signing of Gary Sanchez official.

On the surface, the signing of Nola doesn’t seem to make much sense. The Royals already have a starter in Salvador Perez and a more than capable backup in Freddy Fermin. Why add another catcher to the 40-man roster?

It’s an interesting move, though. One with plenty of nuance. You probably have questions. I may have some answers.

What does this mean for Freddy Fermin?

I don’t think it means much. At least coming out of camp. Fermin is your backup catcher who figures to still get plenty of time as the team attempts to keep Salvador Perez fresh for the grind of 162 games. Fermin showed last season that he’s a more than capable backup, hitting .281/.321/.461 with a 112 OPS+ in 235 plate appearances. The various defensive metrics have him as a slightly above-average defender behind the dish. Fermin was worth 1 Framing Run last year and posted a 1.93 pop time on throws to second. He’s adept at blocking the ball in the dirt as well.

I’m going to drop this nifty graphic here from Baseball Savant. It shows where Fermin is strong at receiving the ball and where there’s a weakness.

The blue is where he’s below average. The red is above average.

Why are the Royals going to carry three catchers on their 40-man roster?

Because they can?

The move hasn’t been made official as of this writing, but I’m going to make the assumption the team will slide Kris Bubic over to the 60-day injured list as he continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery. He threw a bullpen earlier this week and is still on target for a mid-season return.

Nola has an option remaining and a little over four years of service time. Fermin has two options and less than a year of major league service time. The option remaining for Nola is important because that means he can start the year in Triple-A.

The Royals have been signing position players to build depth and to bring competition for spots. It may not work the way you would envision it, but I really cannot fault the process here.

Why sign a guy to a major league deal when he’s going to be a minor league catcher?

One word: Depth.

I can’t stress this enough. It’s about depth. Catching is a brutal position. Even though Perez is super-human, he still manages to land on the IL once or twice a year. (Perez’s pain tolerance and recovery time will forever be a source of amazement to me.) With three catchers on the 40-man, if either Perez or Fermin needs to miss time, they’re essentially moving someone between Triple-A and the majors without any kind of other implications to their roster. I think the easiest prediction to make about the upcoming season is that Nola will get time on the major league roster. And if it’s because Perez misses 10 days with a wrist injury or something, Nola can go right back down when Perez is ready to be activated.

I wrote a lot about a revolving door to the bullpen last summer and how the Royals were constantly shuttling guys between Omaha and Kansas City to restock the relief corps. They’re doing the same thing (but on a much smaller scale) for their catchers.

It’s a good thing to have these options during the season.

Is Nola worth the roster spot?

As a third-string catcher (presumably), I’d say, yeah. Defensively, he’s probably a little worse behind the plate than Fermin with a slower pop time to second (1.97 seconds), and his pitch framing graded out at -3 last year. (For further reference, Perez was at -7.)

He hit an anemic .146/.260/.192 in 154 plate appearances. That’s a 30 OPS+. Those numbers are well off his career averages of .249/.326/.370.

There was a reason for that. Nola was hit on the nose by a fastball in spring training last year. He cleared the concussion protocols but was experiencing occasional fogginess and headaches. He was having difficulty tracking pitches. After Anthony Rizzo went public with his own issues following a collision with Fernando Tatis Jr., Nola decided to undergo testing for his symptoms. The diagnosis that came back was oculomotor dysfunction, which is a vision issue impacting the brain’s ability to coordinate eye movement. It specifically was a problem with Nola’s left eye. That’s going to be a problem for any ballplayer, but I imagine it’s even more of an issue for a right-handed batter like Nola.

Nola hasn’t played since a minor league game in early August. Hopefully, with the time off his symptoms have cleared.

Nola has caught more than 100 games just once in the five years he’s played in the majors. He is 34 years old. He’s played in October. He’s the quintessential backup catcher.

As you’ve probably figured out on your own, there’s the small fact that the Royals signed two free agent pitchers from last year’s Padre team. Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha both know Nola. Given how the Royals have been using their free agent signing to recruit other players, I’d imagine both Lugo and Wacha have given an enthusiastic thumbs up to this signing. That counts for something.

Will your roster projection change?

Ahhh, yes. The vaunted roster projection. Thank you for asking about that!

Barring injury to Fermin or Perez in the Cactus League or just an all-around epic collapse from Fermin performance-wise, I’d say the Royals still break camp with Perez and Fermin as their catchers. I don’t see the Royals carrying three backstops on their active roster. Not given how the team has put an emphasis on versatility the last couple of seasons and how Matt Quatraro uses his roster.

Again, the options that both Fermin and Nola have are important here.

This also can give Fermin a little nudge. The Royals have been open about competition for spots. Nothing is handed out anymore. Even though you had a good year last season, that may not guarantee a spot in the future. It’s a bit cold-blooded I suppose, but it’s how successful teams operate. Signing a guy like Nola can serve notice to Fermin that he can’t afford to get comfortable. Not that we’ve seen signs that he’s going to start coasting, but it can be a little prompt to work even harder.

Ultimately, I think that Nola opens the year in Omaha and is the call when the Royals require that move for another catcher.

This is a lot of words about a third-string catcher. Give me the bottom line.

It’s a solid, low-risk pickup that gives the Royals cover for the upcoming season.