Former Nats pitching coach Steve McCatty trying to catch on with hometown Tigers

A year ago, Steve McCatty was still recovering from the stinging disappointment of the Nationals' early exit from the postseason. But there was still a bright offseason ahead, and added excitement and expectations when the Nats added ace Max Scherzer to McCatty's pitching staff.

Now the former Nationals pitching coach is attempting to land the same job with Scherzer's old team. According to a report from MLB.com, McCatty is one of the finalists to fill the Tigers' vacant pitching coach position following the retirement of Jeff Jones. McCatty was born in Detroit and still calls Michigan home. He also served as Tigers' pitching coach from 2003-2005 before joining the Nationals organization a year later.

After spending three-plus seasons as pitching coach for Triple-A Syracuse, McCatty took over Washington's big league staff on June 2, 2009 when Randy St. Claire was fired. That began a run of six-plus seasons developing the careers of right-handers Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg into leaders of the one of the game's most dominant rotations.

In 2014, with McCatty presiding over the rotation, the Nationals led the majors with a 3.04 starters' ERA. The talented collection of arms only became more feared when the Nationals landed Scherzer in January. Though still posting the majors' seventh-best starting ERA at 3.70 this year, the Nationals rotation never reached the historic expectations placed on it before the season.

But the real issues surfaced in McCatty's bullpen, where the Nationals struggled to find late-inning consistency throughout the season. A trade deadline move to acquire veteran closer Jonathan Papelbon ended up doing more harm than good, as the Nationals bullpen floundered through August and September en route to early elimination from postseason contention.

There were questions about former manager Matt Williams overworking relievers unnecessarily, which seemed to highlight a disconnection with McCatty. That was never more evident than when Papelbon attacked star Bryce Harper with a chokehold in the Nationals dugout late in the season. McCatty, hitting coach Rick Schu and a few players were among those who broke up the brawl. However, neither coach seemed to relay the details of the fight back to Williams. So Williams sent Papelbon back out to pitch the ninth inning in a move general manager Mike Rizzo called "odd" after the fact.

When Rizzo fired Williams on Oct. 5, the entire coaching staff was dismissed, as well. Rizzo was quick to point out that some of the staff had the opportunity to remain with the organization in different capacities. A week later, the team announced former bench coach Randy Knorr accepted a position as senior assistant to the general manager for player development. Former third base coach Bobby Henley became senior adviser for player development and former bullpen coach Matt LeCroy returned to the minors as Double-A Harrisburg's manager.

If the Nationals land Bud Black as manager, they would have a former major league pitcher as skipper. Hiring a pitcher as a manager is a move debated throughout baseball for fear the individual isn't in tune with all of the nuances of the game. But Black, who won a World Series as a starter with the Royals in 1985 and as a pitching coach with the Angels in 2002, has nine years of experience managing in San Diego and is widely respected around the game.

For the 61-year-old McCatty, a return home to rejuvenate a Tigers pitching staff that still includes former Cy Young winner Justin Verlander could be the perfect fit. Either way, his record in Washington is a good one. The Nationals had three no-hitters under McCatty - one by Zimmermann and two by Scherzer. Lefty Gio Gonzalez won a career-high 21 games in 2012, finishing third in the NL Cy Young vote under McCatty's watch. And McCatty helped develop right-hander Tanner Roark into a solid starter in 2014.

With Scherzer, Strasburg, Gonzalez, Roark and right-hander Joe Ross, the Nationals will still roll out a formidable starting five in 2016, with top prospect Lucas Giolito waiting in the wings.