Manager Davey Martinez announced last night ahead of the second of two games against the Orioles in Baltimore that the entire Washington Nationals coaching staff will return in 2025. Martinez and the Washington front office said they wanted to make this decision early to maintain stability, as they believe the franchise will turn around and return to a certain level of competency in the near future.
So is everyone coming back?
“The entire major league coaching staff,” Martinez acknowledged Wednesday.
“I signed a one-year contract with the entire coaching staff yesterday, which I think is great,” the seventh-year captain told reporters. “The guys have worked hard every day to try and make the younger guys better. They’ve done a great job. I’m really proud of them and I wanted to bring them back, so they’ve worked really hard with the coaching staff.” [GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo] And when it came to ownership, they felt the same way about these guys.
“So they’re all coming back. I’m really excited about that.”
Martinez, Rizzo and others in the Nationals front office made the decision early this time around, rather than waiting until the offseason as they have done in the past.
“I really wanted to get it done now,” Martinez said. “It gives us a little more cohesion and we know we’re all going to be back instead of just finishing it at the end of the year. This is a good unit and we work really well together and they do a great job with the kids so for me it was important to get it done as soon as possible.”
Martinez and his staff will take a closer look at some of the high-end prospects and assorted players the organization has acquired through recent trades, signings and the draft to determine who holds the future and where they may need to make additional deals if they decide to start adding to the core they’ve assembled since restarting in 2021.Or do you think they’ve truly (re)started in 2022 when they decided to build the team around someone other than Juan Soto?)
Photo: Mark Taylor/Getty Images
It seems Martinez, Rizzo and the ownership team all believe the staff they’ve assembled will help them take the next step.
“Ownership and [Rizzo] “We decided to do it now, rather than put it off,” the manager said.
“At least for now, our young people [players] I know these [coaches] We’re going to come back and continue to work hard to keep them going, moving them forward and preparing them for the next few years.”
Martinez made a number of personnel changes last winter, including replacing bench coach Tim Boger with Miguel Cairo, third base coach Gary DiSarcina with Ricky Gutierrez, assistant hitting coach Pat Roesler with Chris Johnson and first base coach Eric Young Jr. with Gerardo Parra. He also hired Sean Doolittle as pitching strategist.
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Photo: Kyle Cooper/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images
“We brought in people that I know,” Martinez said. “The Doolittle brothers, the Paras brothers, Ricky. [Gutierrez]”He’s a guy that’s been in this organization and has a great understanding of the infield and has done a great job at third base. They get it. They get it. Some of them aren’t that far removed from the game.”
“They know the players really well, so there’s great continuity with the players and what they’re doing and what they bring to the club.”
The Captain described what stood out among his staff: “… [is] You really see how hard they work and how much they care about their players. In the mornings, when they need to be, they come here super early to make sure they’re ready to start the day. Their conversations with the players and the way they approach their work is just incredible.”
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Photo: Scott Tetch/Getty Images
Unfortunately, the Nationals and their coaching staff didn’t get to celebrate the news with a win.
Martinez and the team decided to split the two games.Four-game season series) played against the Orioles in their fourth and final game of the year and lost 4-1.
“Our offense wasn’t very good today,” the manager said after the game, in which the team went hitless in four at-bats and only scored one run, with five runners in scoring position. [Orioles’ righty Dean Kremer] “They really kept us off balance all night. But as I always say, this game is about consistency. Yesterday, we were all about it, we were all about the ball, we hit the ball in the middle of the field. But today, we just didn’t really do anything.”
Is the tie with the Orioles (71-50), who are leading the AL East, a sign that the Nationals (55-66) are making some progress?They were 0-4 against the Orioles last season and 1-3 in 2022.)?
“It’s still a work in progress,” Martinez told reporters.
“But we’re starting to see progress, we really do. The younger guys are starting to understand. They’re starting to play a little better. I like the way we’re going out there and competing every day. We’re playing hard to get that 27 out, but we’re getting closer and closer.”
