WASHINGTON -- During their first year in Washington, Nationals manager Dave Martinez and his staff endured their share of growing pains during what was a disappointing 2018 season. However, the Nats' front office insisted all year that the coaching staff was not solely to blame for the underachieving team, and they are prepared to give the coaches another chance.
The Nationals will bring back their entire coaching staff for the 2019 season, a source confirmed to MLB.com on Tuesday morning. The news was first reported by the Washington Post, and it gives the Nats some continuity on the coaching staff one year after the overhaul that brought Martinez to D.C.
Both general manager Mike Rizzo and Martinez, who will enter the second season of a three-year deal with a club option for a fourth, threw their support behind the coaching staff before the end of the regular season and maintained that they wanted to bring them all back. Those feelings have not changed since the end of the regular season, even as the Nationals have started meetings to begin implementing the team's plans this offseason.
"I think they've grown a good cohesion in what they've tried to do," Rizzo said in his assessment after the season ended. "I like the work ethic. It's really second to none of any coaching staff I've been around. I like the communication skills, and I like the trust factor between the players and the individual coaches."
After being one of the most popular names on the managerial market last offseason, Kevin Long will be set to return for his second season as hitting coach in Washington. The Nats' lineup was hampered by injuries and inconsistencies from some of their best players all season, and yet they were still the second-best hitting team in the National League at 101 wRC+ (trailing only the Dodgers at 111).
Pitching had been a strength for the Nats in recent years, but their staff took a step back in 2018, with a 4.04 ERA as a team. It was the club's highest since 2010 and ranked ninth best in the NL. Pitching coach Derek Lilliquist will get a second chance to try to help their young and inexperienced starters improve, as the team hopes to add more depth to its rotation as well.
Martinez will also have bench coach Chip Hale back at his side to help bounce off ideas and give a bit of a different perspective. First-base coach Tim Bogar and bullpen catcher Henry Blanco -- both of whom had connections to Martinez before Washington -- will also return with third-base coach Bobby Henley, who has been with the organization since 2003, when they were the Expos.
"They worked their butts off all year long," Martinez said of his staff at the end of the season. "And they're really good. They've been very positive. They're a big part of keeping this aloft, they really are."