Entire Nationals coaching staff will return in 2025

BALTIMORE – Davey Martinez gathered his entire coaching staff together on the Nationals’ off-day and told the group he had an announcement to make: Every one of them was being invited back for the 2025 season.

Prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Orioles, all of them – pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Darnell Coles, bench coach Miguel Cairo, first base coach Gerardo Parra, third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, pitching strategist Sean Doolittle and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson – signed their new contracts. And this afternoon, Martinez made it public, ensuring his full staff not only will return for another season but was made aware long before the current season ends.

“I really wanted to get it done now,” Martinez said. “This way, there’s a little bit of unity, and all the guys know they’ll be back, instead of doing it at the end of the year. I really feel like this is a good corps, and we work really good together. And they’re doing a great job with the kids. For me, it was important to get it done as soon as possible.”

This was a significant departure from the 2023 season, when Martinez (who signed his contract extension in late-August) didn’t make decisions on his coaches until October, making several changes to what had been a tight-knit staff.

With all of the current coaches on one-year deals, speculation had been growing there could be more changes coming this fall, most notably at the hitting coach position. Ultimately, Martinez – with the blessing of general manager Mike Rizzo and Nationals ownership – gave a vote of confidence to everyone, and didn’t make anyone – including the players – have to sweat out the season’s final seven weeks before learning who would be back in 2025.

“I’m really glad that ownership and Riz decided to do it right now, as opposed to waiting until later,” Martinez said. “At least now, the young (players) know these guys will be back and will continue to work hard to get them going and keep them going, and get them ready for years to come.”

Martinez, who will be entering his club-record eighth season as manager, having won the World Series in Year 2 but finished with a losing record each year since, has made a number of changes to his staff during his tenure. He fired pitching coach Derek Lilliquist one month in the 2019 season, then opted not to retain his World Series-winning replacement, Paul Menhart, after the 2020 season. He watched World Series-winning hitting coach Kevin Long depart for a better deal with the Phillies after the 2021 season and replaced him with Coles, one of his closest friends in baseball.

Last October saw the Nats part ways with coaches Tim Bogar, Gary DiSarcina, Pat Roessler and Eric Young Jr. and replace them with Cairo, Gutierrez, Johnson and Parra, respectively.

“We brought guys in that I’ve known,” Martinez said, adding: “These guys understand. They get it. Some of these guys aren’t that far removed from the game. They understand players really well. It’s a great continuity with these guys and what they’re bringing to the club.”

The Nationals’ offensive struggles over the last three seasons under Coles have been well-documented, and while some individuals have shown obvious improvement – most notably CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. this season – the team’s overall production has mostly remained stagnant.

The Nats have consistently ranked in the middle of the pack in the National League in batting average (eighth this season), have improved to seventh in on-base percentage but remain near the bottom of the league in slugging (13th) and for the third straight year are last in home runs. They’ve been shut out 13 times (tied with the White Sox for most in the majors) and have been no-hit in each of the last two seasons after never suffering that indignity from 2005-2022.

Asked specifically if it’s possible to improve the team’s power production through coaching, or if it will require the addition of new hitters, Martinez defended Coles’ approach.

“Look, you coach the players to their best of their ability,” the manager said. “A lot of times people forget: The players have to perform. That’s the biggest thing. You can’t take a guy that hits two home runs, three home runs a year, and expect that he’s going to hit 20. Sometimes, guys who do have the power, it comes. I played with a lot of guys in their first year. One in particular: Raffy Palmeiro. His first (full) year he hits … eight home runs. The next thing you know, he’s got (569). They find their stroke. …

“Once these guys get to understand each other, get through this league … it may take them a year, but they’ll start getting it. And when they do, they’ll take off. The thing is to teach them how to understand what it is to go through the daily grind every day. That’s what our hitting coaches do every day: How to prepare them every day. Routine, that’s what they’re learning right now. And they’re getting better at it.”

There has been stronger evidence of improvement on the pitching front. After posting staff ERAs over 5.00 and WHIPs over 1.435 each of the last two seasons, the Nationals enter tonight’s game with a 4.31 ERA and 1.334 WHIP. Their strikeout rate (8.1 per nine innings) continues to rank near the bottom of the league, but they’ve dramatically reduced the number of walks issued and home runs surrendered, now ranking in the top six in each category after ranking at or near the bottom the last two seasons.

The addition of former closer Doolittle to work alongside Hickey has been well-received, and the ahead-of-schedule development of young starters Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz has been among the highlights of the season to date.

“They’ve been awesome,” Martinez said. “We’ve taken guys we didn’t think we were going to get up here for another year, and they’ve done really well. Simply because the message has been: Strike one. To constantly throw strikes, get ahead of hitters. Our young pitchers have done that, and it’s been awesome. Hickey has done a great job with them. So has Doolittle, and so has Ricky (Bones) in the bullpen. These guys have done really well.”