This has been another brutal season for the Washington Nationals and its long-suffering fans. After winning the World Series in 2019, the Nationals are headed to their sixth straight losing season.
Long-time general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez – the brain trust of the first baseball title for a Washington team since 1924 – was let go by the Lerner ownership group in early July. Now Mike DeBartolo, who has been with the organization since 2012, is the interim general manager, while Miguel Cairo is the interim manager.
Changes are likely in store, and that means in part the coaching staff, which includes former University of Virginia standout Sean Doolittle. Prior to the 2024 season, the former reliever was named a pitching strategist for the Nationals under Martinez, and the cerebral lefty has stayed on board since Cairo took over.
DeBartolo, per reports, could end up with the job permanently, but it would probably be a shock if Cairo returned in 2026.
So, for now, Doolittle and pitching coach Jim Hickey work together with one of the youngest pitching staffs in the majors. Mental preparation, strategy and mechanics were the talking points for Doolittle when he was hired.
Mitchell Parker, a lefty starter for the Nationals, appreciates the arrangement. Parker made his MLB debut in April of last season.
“I really like it. I don’t understand a lot of the numbers stuff, so he does a good job of translating it and making it easier for me to understand and grab it more,” Parker said of Doolittle. “They both have been in the baseball world for a long time. Doo was playing just a couple of years ago. He has that under his belt. Jim has been doing this for a long time. They are both (talking to me) in between starts.”
Parker doesn’t feel pressure to impress new decision-makers. “You are always trying to prove yourself. You are always trying to improve on things. It really doesn’t matter who is in there. You have to improve on everything,” he said.
Parker, who has struggled after a strong start in April, is trying to do just – with help from Doolittle, if possible.
“Sean Doolittle was always an extremely talented pitcher, but he is also one of the most intelligent baseball minds you can find,” Rizzo said in a statement when he was hired. “We’re incredibly excited to have him on our staff to help guide our talented group of young pitchers.”
Doolittle, who was not available for comment, was drafted out of Virginia by the A’s in the first round in 2007. He was a two-play player for the Cavaliers, and began his minor-league career as a position player, slugging 22 homers with an .854 OPS in 2008, then getting to Triple-A in 2009, before recasting himself as a pitcher in 2011.
The New Jersey native broke into the majors with Oakland in 2012 and was an All-Star two years later. He was traded to Washington during the 2017 season and then made the All-Star team with the Nationals the following year.
In the pennant season of 2019, he had 29 saves and led the league in games finished with 55. Doolittle pitched for the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners in 2021, then finished his MLB career with six scoreless outings for the Nationals in 2022. He did appear in 11 minor league games the next year, but retired in September of 2023.
“I might be done playing baseball,” Doolittle said at a press conference at Nationals Park at the time. “But I’m not sure if I’m done with baseball.”
The question is where he and other members of the Nationals coaching staff will end up next season.
Notes
- Turner Ashby High grad Brenan Hanifee, a reliever for the Detroit Tigers, pitched 1.1 scoreless innings on Aug. 20 in a 7-2 win at the Houston Astros. Hanifee was drafted in the fourth round out of TA in 2016 by the Baltimore Orioles. He made his MLB debut with Detroit in 2023. The Harrisonburg native lowered his ERA to 3.02 in his 47th outing of the season for the Tigers.
- *Willie Horton, a native of Arno in Southwest Virginia, is a Legend Ambassador for the Tigers. He hit 325 homers in his career and helped Detroit win the World Series in 1968.
- *Charlottesville native and St. Anne’s-Belfield and Virginia product Nic Kent hit his third homer of the season Aug. 16 for Double-A Hartford in the Colorado system. The blast came against Harrisburg, a farm team of the Nationals.
David Driver is a Harrisonburg native who played baseball at Turner Ashby, Harrisonburg Legion Post 27, EMU (one light-hitting season) and for Clover Hill in the RCBL. He is the co-author of “From Tidewater to the Shenandoah: Snapshots from Virginia’s Rich Baseball Legacy,” which is available on the websites of Amazon and Barnes and Noble and at daytondavid.com. He was the sports editor of the Daily News-Record from 2019-21 and worked for the paper in the 1980s.
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