The season is almost 75 percent complete with just over 40-games to play in 2024. While some of the Washington Nationals coaches named Sean Doolittle and Kevin Long could have been in high-demand this offseason, what was the rush to extend the rest of the coaches with new contracts for 2025? This was obviously manager Dave Martinez‘s decision with the go-ahead from his boss.
Maybe first base/outfield coach Gerardo Parra was going to get some calls. Maybe pitching coach Jim Hickey too, after the successes with many of the young starting pitchers. But what was the rush to extend the contract of hitting coach Darnell Coles?
When general manager Mike Rizzo spoke about doing his autopsy after the season, doesn’t he look at the impact, positive and negative, of the coaching staff? Why not wait to see how the full season works its way to completion?
If you go by the statistics, the Nationals offense is 17th in runs scores — but much of that is attributed to the running game — not the hitting game where the Nats are 22nd in OPS. In power hitting, the Nats are the sixth worst team in baseball. Some would say the pitching isn’t much better at 23rd overall in team ERA — but much of that is based on carrying Patrick Corbin in the starting rotation. The pitching has greatly improved from last year in many areas -if- they can finish strong.
Also extended were bench coach Miguel Cairo, third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson – signed their new contracts. Is Cairo the right person to be the bench coach or is he the type who is going to always agree with Martinez? Sometimes you want that friction that Martinez and his previous bench coaches, Chip Hale and Tim Bogar added in their time together that covered the World Series season of 2019.
“I really wanted to get it done now. 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 core, 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.”
— Martinez said before yesterday’s game
Traditionally, the coaching staff works on one-year deals with Martinez on a multi-year deal. The social media speculation was gaining momentum that several coaches should have been fired. But as the season progressed, you could see that Gutierrez as the third base coach had greatly improved and even Parra at first base. These coaches generally have other duties like teaching baserunning and helping fielders, etc.
In 2025, Martinez will be entering his eighth season as manager of the Nats, and that lengthens his record number of years at the helm. But his managerial record is 447-544 and that is just a 45.1 percent winning percentage. If you remove the 93-69 record in 2019, that managerial record looks even worse. But yes, this has been 3+ years of a rebuild that started at the trade deadline in 2021. At times, a very painful rebuild. You expect losing seasons in a rebuild, and Martinez will always have 2019 World Series manager as an accomplishment.
“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 said
While continuity is great when you are winning and progressing, we just have not seen much of that. The team’s best player in the first half, CJ Abrams, has been mired in a funk for most of the second half batting just .186 with a .547 OPS. He had one notable homer at a pitch he swung at literally near his neck as Rizzo described it. But is that good? Abrams struck out on a 3-2 pitch last night in a similar spot instead of accepting a walk. The non-disciplined swings by Nats batters defy logic many times. We have seen the continued struggles by Keibert Ruiz on both offense and defense, and his FanGraphs WAR stands at -0.5. A replacement player worth +1.5 as a starting catcher would be add two additional wins for this team.
There are other players that have struggled, and are negative. Many are gone like Eddie Rosario, Jordan Weems, and Harold Ramirez with Joey Meneses and Trey Lipscomb sent back to Triple-A. Some remain like Ruiz, and Rizzo made sure that finding future catchers was a priority in the MLB Draft last month.
We are getting close to the point of roster expansion for September 1 to 28 players, and there is a real possibility that the team’s No. 1 prospect, Dylan Crews, can make his MLB debut soon. The team has been giving additional looks to Alex Call who has been one of the best players in baseball since he was called back up, and James Wood has been on a hot streak for over two weeks.
On Tuesday August 20, we will see if that series at Nationals Park versus the Colorado Rockies is a point to call-up Crews. That would give the Nats a chance for more of a glimpse into their future. The critics say that the coaches need better players, and the fans feel like the coaches should be doing better with the players they have. That becomes the ongoing debate. Is the problem the student or is it the teacher?
“We can see a lot, and try to help [our young players] get better.”
— Martinez said
“I wish we had some veteran guys, I really do, but to get a lot of these young players up here, it excites me, too. One, they deserve to be up here because they’ve done so well, and we get a broader spectrum of what they can do. That’s definitely going to help us for the future.”
The team needs to finally add a meaningful veteran with star power to the roster to add to the clubhouse as a mentor and a leader. That player must be on a long-term contract to signal the change to the players instead of the carousel of veterans signed to one-year deals and traded in the mid-season.
Before the 2011 season, the Nats signed Jayson Werth as that type of leader on a long-term deal. He had star power, but not a superstar. He was the change the team needed. At the very least you find someone like Werth. Quality in is needed.
