NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: PHILLIES VS PADRES

October 18, 2022

Austin Nola

Petco Park

San Diego Padres

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. What's sort of been the interaction between your family for the last couple days getting ready for this exciting matchup?

AUSTIN NOLA: Yeah, I haven't talked to my parents yet. They're on their way in. I got a chance to visit with Aaron yesterday before all of our workouts.

I know it's a busy time right now. We've got to get prepared for the game and this series. Yeah, it's good to see them, but it's time to play baseball now.

Q. Are you guys able to turn the page when it comes time to play?

AUSTIN NOLA: Yeah, we know our business in we have to take care of, how to get prepared. And ultimately this is about enjoying the game. It's about playing the game that we love.

Q. We've talked a lot about your defense and the great job you've done handling this pitching staff, but your offense has been really impactful. How fun has it been for you to contribute on that side, and how fun has it been for you to view that at the bottom of the lineup and make such an impact?

AUSTIN NOLA: These games have been a lot of fun. The energy is there, and every pitch matters. It just takes it to a new level. I'm really enjoying that and getting into these at-bats, deep into these at-bats and having a lot of fun because it's a lot of competition between you and the pitcher and the situations are always big.

That's what it's all about, one pitch at a time, getting as far into the at-bat as far as you can and seeing who wins.

Q. You and Yu Darvish used PitchCom for the first time. How did that work with him having so many pitches? And how were you able to utilize it, and do you think you'll utilize it today?

AUSTIN NOLA: I'm not sure what we're going to do. The game plan kind of changes depending on the opponent and what our game plan is going into that day. We'll see what happens with the PitchCom and how we decide to use it, but we haven't decided that yet.

Q. I'm wondering specifically the history of you catching your brother because you weren't a catcher until so late in your career. Have you done that at any point in any competition or game?

AUSTIN NOLA: Have I caught him in an actual game before?

Q. In any setting.

AUSTIN NOLA: I've caught a ton of bullpen but never a game. When I was in college at LSU I was an infielder and he was a pitcher. So never got a chance to catch him, so I'd just catch him in offseason bullpens.

Q. You know his stuff probably better than anyone in the Padres' clubhouse --

AUSTIN NOLA: I know his stuff very well. I caught most all of his bullpens last year. And we talk a lot about pitching, and he's helped me a lot with the catching stuff for sure because he's been doing this for a long time at a high level.

His knowledge of the game, of hitters, how to pitch hitters, what he needs from a catcher is second to none. I use a lot of his knowledge and wisdom to teach me.

Q. You mentioned your parents. How do they plan on dressing for the game? Is it going to be one Padres, one Phillies?

AUSTIN NOLA: I think coming into a stadium of brown and gold, I would say Padres would be the right move. You're in San Diego, right? When you go to Philly they probably should hide a little bit of that. I'm not sure. I'm sure the camera will be on them and you'll see what they're wearing, but they're preparing for that. I'm not sure how to respond to that moment.

Q. Once the series obviously gets underway tonight, will you have any contact with your brother? Will you guys text back and forth? Are you going to kind of shut it down during the actual games?

AUSTIN NOLA: I'm not sure. I know with our jobs and how much it's demanding out of us it's probably going to be very minimal. I'm definitely going to see my parents for sure, but I'm not sure what the time, with the day game tomorrow, he's pitching, how that's going to work. Maybe the off-day in Philadelphia we'll connect, but as far as the games go, we're pretty busy.

Q. He gave you that strike-out ball; where do you keep that ball?

AUSTIN NOLA: I think I gave it to my dog. No, it's in the memorabilia we have of that first time last year, the first time it ever happened. Yeah, we have some pictures and some things from that game and from previous games.

Q. You got him this year; do you have any plans for revenge?

AUSTIN NOLA: I do have some plans for it. I haven't revealed them yet. But I'm sure it'll come at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Q. With your own pitching staff, you've got some pretty well-established starters there. When you got here in 2020 and they added those three guys, how did that process go in terms of understanding how to work with three or four pretty established starters and what makes each of them effective?

AUSTIN NOLA: They all have their strengths, what they do really well and what they've done well for a long time. Our guys feed off each other. You see the leadership in the starters and the leadership in the bullpen. They have some strengths and similarities the way they attack, the way they game plan, and I think that's interesting the way it works. They came in with strengths and weaknesses but they're able to work together with each other through their leadership and through their cooperation to create one of the best acts in the game. It's fun to catch.

Q. Also with Darvish specifically, is that fun or a challenge when you deal with a pitcher who has so many different options and can freelance out there?

AUSTIN NOLA: I think it's a lot of fun because you can make adjustments in the at-bat of what you see because there's always another pitch, another speed, another spin. What happens a lot of times with guys with just one or two pitches or three pitches is that if you've got a hitter who's stuck in between speeds, a hitter that you've got -- he's on the fast ball but he's taking the breaking ball, with Darvish you've got something that mimics what he's on but it's not the speed or the pitch -- it's deceptive. I think he creates a lot of deception with the speed and the pitch types that he has.

Q. This is looking way out to the future, so I understand if you might not have great answer, but the fact of the matter is one of you guys is going to be in the World Series and the other is going to be dealing with some disappointment but I would imagine excited for the other. Knowing what you know about yourself and your brother, how do you think you guys will kind of handle that dynamic once the time comes in terms of maybe being present at games, that sort of thing? Being supportive in whatever way while dealing with kind of the disappointment, as well?

AUSTIN NOLA: Yeah, I haven't really thought that far. I'm focused on the game tonight, doing what we can do tonight to come out on top, to shake hands. Yeah, I don't even want to think about the feeling or anything like that. I just want to use whatever we have here as motivation to get through tonight and have a lot of fun and enjoy the game tonight.

Q. On Thursday, on the off-day before you play Game 3 in Philadelphia, any plans for the whole family to get together for dinner that night?

AUSTIN NOLA: It depends on how the first two games go. (Laughter).

Q. Does it work out well, the fact that you guys are in different time zones where you probably got to see a lot of his games, he probably got to see a lot of yours?

AUSTIN NOLA: He gets to see more of mine. I don't get to see hardly any of his because of our schedule here, because we have BP and everything working into it and he gets to watch a lot of my games. He doesn't go to bed until later. Yeah, I haven't watched a ton of his games. Over his career, it's been crazy with our time schedules and how we've been across the country for so long.

Q. I know when the lockout dragged into February Aaron came out to see you, you guys worked out together, and he said that you were pretty direct with him in terms of like what he needed to do to get over what he thought was a disappointing year last year relative to his other years. Can you share any of what you may have told him that you thought you saw?

AUSTIN NOLA: Well, he might use it against us now. I kind of caught him a lot last year and caught some of the video of his games, just what I saw, what I've been around some really good pitchers and the knowledge that I have and what he's comfortable with doing. He definitely made some good adjustments this year. He was one of the best all year in strikeouts and low walks, so props to him for making the adjustment.

Q. So he took your advice?

AUSTIN NOLA: Maybe he did, I don't know. He probably wouldn't say that he did.

Q. What kind of crossroads were you at when you switched to become a catcher?

AUSTIN NOLA: Yeah, I was a middle infielder at the time in Triple-A, just wasn't enjoying the game as much. I don't know if I just had played the position for so long and felt there was something I could do better, and I just didn't feel at the time that I could improve anymore on this position. I had put everything I could into it, and I needed a spark and catching gave me that spark and that new love for the game and how to enjoy it a little bit more and make it less of a job and more of playing, what the game is. It's supposed to be played and it's supposed to be fun. That's what catching does for me.

Q. When Aaron got to the Big Leagues, what did you learn about your journey? It took a little bit longer than his.

AUSTIN NOLA: Yeah, we had very different journeys. He was high draft, seventh pick overall, Big Leagues. He probably could have made it to the Big Leagues right out of college. He didn't even need to go to the Minor Leagues, where I needed the Minor Leagues for a while. Our journeys are very different, so we don't relate in that, but our work ethic and how we conduct business is very similar, and he was able to help me a lot when I first got to the Big Leagues because he had been a veteran in the Big Leagues when I first got to the Big Leagues.

Q. You said what you went through kind of inspired him a little bit. How does that feel, the work that you were doing inspired maybe your younger brother?

AUSTIN NOLA: Yeah, because you look at it, when I was in the Minor Leagues, I was like, my younger brother has been in the Big Leagues for five years and I haven't tasted it yet. He hit some jabs with me, oh, I've gotten more hits than you in the Big Leagues, and I'm like, I haven't even gotten to the Big Leagues yet. We had a lot of fun with it, but to hear his compliments about that was -- made me feel good for sure because he's got a lot of respect in this game as a veteran.

Q. With the earlier mention of PitchCom, as loud as these playoff environments have been, I'm curious about the experience of trying to make sure guys can actually hear you.

AUSTIN NOLA: Yeah, they put their glove over their ear. I notice a lot of guys have been doing it, to stop all the noise. It seems to be working. It really has. We might have had one little issue, but I think at the end of the day everybody has really liked it. It takes away from having to put signs out and the ability to steal signs from second base. I think it's been a good addition.

Q. Austin, you're kind of obviously in that land between the brother code and your teammate, the code with your teammates. I noticed a couple questions ago, you were real general about what kind of advice last winter you gave to Aaron. You didn't get specific with us. Do you get specific with your teammates? Can you and will you say if you gave them a little more specifics than you just answered with us on what advice you gave Aaron?

AUSTIN NOLA: Yeah, I'll put it to this way, in that this is important. We want to win. We're competitors. We love each other. He'll probably say the same thing. We love each other, we want each other to do the best.

But when it comes to game time, we flip the switch. We want to win. He's going to do whatever he can to get me out. It's game time, it's I'm not letting you off the hook one bit. I told me straight up, I'm trying to strike you out. I told him, I'm trying to hit a ball straight back at you. It's always been like that.

When I was younger I created this -- I wanted him to have that edge a little bit. He's used that edge, and I think that's important because it's what -- he's very successful.

I know he's going to give everything he can to his teammates to beat us, and I'm going to do everything I can for us to win.

Q. So you might be a little more specific in the clubhouse with what your brother is trying to do and what adjustments he's made than you have given up with us?

AUSTIN NOLA: Possibly.

Q. The guy you're going against, Blake Snell, he's turned his season around. What's been the biggest difference for him in the second half?

AUSTIN NOLA: He's got some of the best stuff in the league, hands down, ask any hitter, fastball, slider, changeup, curveball. The unique of what Blake does, how tall he is, how the ball gets on you at the release point, everything. It's scary when his stuff is in the zone. It's scary. I think when he gets his pitches in the zone, watch out. He's the real deal.

Q. That was the biggest difference for you, just getting pitches --

AUSTIN NOLA: When he gets his pitches in the zone, he's the real deal.