Nationals To Keep Coaching Staff

The Nationals’ dugout will look the same in 2027. The club plans to bring back manager Blake Butera’s entire staff, reports Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic.

Washington underwent a massive overhaul last offseason, starting with the installation of president of baseball operations Paul Toboni. The former Red Sox exec brought on Butera, a first-time manager. Both men were the youngest in the league in their respective roles.

The staff hired by Toboni and Butera also skewed heavily on the younger side. Pitching coach Simon Mathews (30), for example, was less than half the age of his predecessor, Jim Hickey (64). The three hitting coaches (Matt Borgschulte, Andrew Ayt, Sean O’Malley) were all in their early-to-mid 30s when hired.

The Nats won 77 games in 2026, their highest mark since 2019, when they won the World Series. It’s been a slog since winning the title, but the new regime offered hope this season. Washington headed into August just a game under .500 and with an outside chance of sticking in the NL Wild Card race. An 11-18 month ended any thoughts of a postseason bid. The team finished on a high note, winning 10 of its final 14 games.

While the coaches will remain in place, changes are expected to come on the training side. Nusbaum reports that the Nats declined to re-up with five members of the training staff. Director of medical services Harvey Sharman left in early September. The team also declined to renew the contracts of head strength and conditioning coach Brett Henry, head athletic trainer Dale Gilbert, and assistant trainers Jonathan Kotredes and Eric Montague.

Nusbaum relayed that the departures were amicable and not a result of a failure to enact the organization’s new training and conditioning strategies. Washington increased its use of technology and data tracking this year. More tweaks are coming, with the club planning to add biomechanics resources this offseason, Nusbaum notes.