Davey Martinez is returning for his seventh season as Nationals manager, but he’ll do so with a number of changes to his coaching staff.
Several members of Martinez’s big league staff have been informed in recent days their contracts are not being renewed, including bench coach Tim Bogar, third base coach Gary DiSarcina, first base coach Eric Young Jr. and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, a source familiar with the decisions confirmed.
Jim Hickey will be brought back for his fourth season as pitching coach, the source said. It wasn’t immediately clear if decisions have been made on hitting coach Darnell Coles, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco and bullpen coach Ricky Bones, along with others on the staff who aren’t among the official eight coaches the team employed.
The Athletic was first to report these changes.
With everyone on the staff working on contracts that were due to expire Oct. 31, the possibility of changes has loomed for weeks. Asked during the season’s final week about the fate of his coaches, Martinez said no decisions had been made at that point, and he intended to meet with general manager Mike Rizzo once the season ended to discuss each position.
Rizzo echoed that sentiment and suggested Martinez would have the say on his coaches, though admitted others higher up in the organization would also be involved.
“Davey and I will sit down after the season’s over, and we’ll go over that with ownership and make those decisions on what we want to do, and who we want to bring back, if any or all,” Rizzo said Sept 30. “Those are usually Davey decisions, but we always have input with it with myself and the front office.”
Bogar and Blanco were the only remaining members of Martinez’s staff from his first season in D.C. in 2018, not to mention the World Series-winning staff the following year.
Originally serving as first base coach, Bogar shifted to bench coach in 2020 and spent the last four seasons as Martinez’s right-hand man in the dugout, occasionally filling in as manager if Martinez was unavailable or ejected. The 56-year-old former big league infielder also worked with Nationals infielders.
DiSarcina and Young were both hired in 2022, with the 55-year-old DiSarcina bringing extensive experience as a third base coach and infield instructor to Martinez’s staff, while the 38-year-old Young was a rookie coach who hoped to impart the wisdom he gained during his career as a base stealer and outfielder to the Nats.
Roessler, 63, had considerable experience as a hitting coach in New York before joining the Nationals in 2020 as Kevin Long’s assistant. Long moved to the Phillies in 2022, but Roessler stayed and continued to assist Coles, a longtime friend of Martinez’s who had previously been hitting coach for the Brewers and Diamondbacks.
The Nats’ lineup ranked 21st in the majors this season in runs (700) and 22nd in on-base percentage (.314) while striking out the fewest times in the National League. But their 151 home runs were last in the NL, and both Rizzo and Martinez recently said adding power to the lineup will be a priority this winter.
Hickey, 61, is also a longtime friend of Martinez, the two having worked together for years with the Rays, then reconnecting in D.C. in 2021 after World Series-winning pitching coach Paul Menhart was let go.
The progress the Nationals saw from young pitchers like Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Hunter Harvey and Jordan Weems helped make a case for Hickey’s retention, even though the team finished 27th in the majors in ERA (5.02) and 28th in both WHIP (1.473) and strikeouts (1,225).
Asked during the season’s final week how he evaluates a coach’s performance, Rizzo pointed to individual players’ improvement more than the team’s overall numbers.
“I think it’s the way they deal with a player on a day-to-day basis,” the GM said. “What have they done to help him grow, and to make him better? I see stuff every day that these guys do. They all work hard, they all put the time into it.”