Does Martinez hiring signal an analytical shift for Nationals?

The Nationals have never been confused for a progressive, analytics-first organization. These aren't the Astros or the Dodgers or the Cubs or the Rays.

But neither have the Nats been stuck in old-school ways. They may have taken the slow-and-steady route over nearly a decade, but they do utilize numbers and have implemented them into their daily and long-term decisions.

General manager Mike Rizzo, a scout's scout if ever there was one, is just as quick nowadays to mention a player's WAR, launch angle or spin rate as any Ivy Leaguer running another club's baseball operations department.

It's been an evolution for Rizzo and for the Nationals as a whole. And with this week's hiring of manager Dave Martinez, they may well have evolved to an entirely new form.

Nearly every opportunity he has been given to discuss Martinez since his hiring, Rizzo has touted the former Cubs and Rays bench coach's analytical side in a manner not before touted about this club's previous managers. So is this move a significant step toward the Nationals morphing into a more stats-based franchise?

"I wouldn't call it a significant step forward," Rizzo insisted. "We've always implemented them. But when you have a history like (Martinez) has in the two organizations that are really analytically based and have had great success doing it, I think that he just brings in that reservoir of information with him."

Martinez worked alongside Joe Maddon, one of the most forward-thinking managers of his time. And the two of them worked for two of the general managers most at the forefront of baseball's analytical revolution in the last 10 years: Andrew Friedman and Theo Epstein.

That's the school Martinez comes from, and he intends to use what he's learned in his first managerial gig.

"Joe and I have been pretty successful together," the 53-year-old former outfielder said. "I really believe that: Why change something that really works? I am very creative. We shared ideas together. I'll bring a lot of those ideas here. It's a whole different team, it's a whole different perspective here. So there might be little changes based on our players. But for the most part, we're going to be prepared, stick to the process. That's the biggest thing that I learned from Joe. It's a long season, and it's all about preparation and sticking to the process."

Nobody has stuck to a process in recent years more than the Astros, who overhauled their entire organization six years ago, based most of their key decisions on analytics, lost 100 games three straight seasons and now are preparing for a championship parade in Houston.

The team the Astros just beat in a thrilling World Series (the Dodgers) has a huge analytics department, with Friedman now running the show after he left Tampa Bay. And the team that won last year's World Series (the Cubs) did so with Epstein, Maddon and Martinez in positions of great importance.

So there's certainly valid reason for the Nationals to attempt to incorporate at least some of that into their decision-making process. Which isn't to say this team is suddenly going to be run solely by stat geeks. Martinez may be forward-thinking, but he combines that openness to numbers with the experiences he had as a player himself.

"The thing that struck me as the most impressive thing about him is: On one hand, he's a 16-year veteran, grizzled and grinded his way through 16 years in the big leagues," Rizzo said. "But he's such an articulate, intelligent, analytically-based thinker, that it's just like the best of both worlds. The creativity that has been shown in both of the organizations he's been to, and the cultures that have developed there, people in the know have told me that he is largely responsible for both of those. It's a good mixture and it's a good balance between the two."

What does that mean tangibly for the 2018 Nationals? Is Bryce Harper going to become the everyday No. 2 hitter? Are Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg going to be pulled before they can face a lineup for the third time on a given night? Have we seen the last sacrifice bunt in franchise history?

We don't know yet. Martinez and the coaching staff he's still assembling have a lot of work to do before they start implementing anything on the field.

But, fair warning: Now might be a good time to start learning your wOBAs from your xFIPs.