The Nationals’ decision in mid-August to re-sign their entire coaching staff caught most outside observers by surprise. Yes, the team had shown signs of progress, but not so much progress that the decision to bring everyone back was a no-brainer.

If nothing else, conventional wisdom suggested the front office would wait until season’s end to evaluate coaches’ performance and then make decisions about everyone’s fate heading into 2025.

The early decision, prompted by manager Davey Martinez’s desire to let all of his coaches have peace of mind and not have to sweat out the season’s final month-and-a-half, was approved by general manager Mike Rizzo and ultimately by club ownership.

The Nationals owned a 55-65 record on Aug. 14 when Martinez announced the decision. They’ve gone 15-25 since and are now 20 games under .500 in the season’s final weekend. They need to win their final two games to surpass last year’s win total of 71.

Rizzo, who met with beat reporters Friday for the first time since the coaching decision, was asked both about the timing of the move and the rationale for retaining the whole staff.

BALTIMORE – Davey Martinez gathered his entire coaching staff together on the Nationals’ off-day and told the group he had an announcement to make: Every one of them was being invited back for the 2025 season.

Prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Orioles, all of them – pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Darnell Coles, bench coach Miguel Cairo, first base coach Gerardo Parra, third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, pitching strategist Sean Doolittle and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson – signed their new contracts. And this afternoon, Martinez made it public, ensuring his full staff not only will return for another season but was made aware long before the current season ends.

“I really wanted to get it done now,” Martinez said. “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 corps, 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.”

This was a significant departure from the 2023 season, when Martinez (who signed his contract extension in late-August) didn’t make decisions on his coaches until October, making several changes to what had been a tight-knit staff.

With all of the current coaches on one-year deals, speculation had been growing there could be more changes coming this fall, most notably at the hitting coach position. Ultimately, Martinez – with the blessing of general manager Mike Rizzo and Nationals ownership – gave a vote of confidence to everyone, and didn’t make anyone – including the players – have to sweat out the season’s final seven weeks before learning who would be back in 2025.

ATLANTA – Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez both learned they would be back in 2024 within the last month. The fate of Martinez’s coaching staff, though, remains undecided heading into the season’s final weekend.

Each of the Nationals’ eight official major league coaches, not to mention other uniformed coaching personnel, is on an expiring contract. It appears each will head home after Sunday’s finale and await word from the organization about the plan for 2024.

“I’m going to sit down with Riz and talk a lot about what needs to transpire for next year,” Martinez said earlier this week when asked if he expects any changes to his staff. “We haven’t talked yet about that. I’m just trying to finish up our exit meetings with players.”

One year ago, Martinez already knew every member of his staff would be returning, each having signed two-year deals the previous winter. That’s not the case this time around, though given the club’s progress from 55 to at least 70 wins, it stands to reason most (if not all) of the coaches will return.

“You think about where we’re at right now, we win a few more games and we’ve won a lot more games than we did last year,” Martinez said. “Developing young players, that’s what we’ve done. They have gotten a lot better. I’m really happy about that and excited about that.”

Joey Meneses took the Nationals and the major leagues by storm over the season’s final two months last year. The 30-year-old rookie had spent 10 years in the minors, Mexican and Japanese professional leagues before having his contract selected by the Nationals and making his major league debut on Aug. 2 against the Mets.

Not many people knew who Meneses was when he was introduced as the starting first baseman batting sixth that night at Nationals Park. Most fans were still lamenting over the trade that sent Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres earlier that day.

But Meneses made sure Nats fans knew who he was by the end of the game, hitting a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 5-1 win over the first-place Mets. With that longball, he became the first Mexican-born player and the fifth-oldest player in major league history to homer in his major league debut.

And he never looked back.

From that point on, Meneses was second in the National League with 72 hits, a .324 average and a .930 OPS. He was tied for fourth in the league with 13 home runs and tied for fifth with 27 extra-base hits.

NEW YORK – Davey Martinez reiterated today what he suggested this summer after his contract option was picked up: His entire coaching staff will return to the Nationals in 2023.

“Yes, they’ll all be back,” Martinez said prior to the Nats’ doubleheader against the Mets to commence their final series of the season.

When the Nationals exercised the manager’s 2023 option July 2, he revealed all of his coaches received two-year contracts when they were hired, suggesting all would be returning along with him. Today, in discussing how members of his staff will be working directly with players during the offseason, Martinez was asked directly if the full staff will be back and he provided a definitive answer.

“These guys have been awesome,” he said. “They’ve been an extension of my voice. They care. They care about each individual. And they’re putting the time in to get each of these guys better.”

The Nationals did make several coaching changes last winter, reassigning longtime staffers Randy Knorr and Bob Henley to player development roles and shifting bullpen coach Henry Blanco to a newly created in-dugout coaching role in which he could work directly with the team’s catchers. Gary DiSarcina, Eric Young Jr. and Ricky Bones were all hired from outside the organization to take over as third base coach, first base coach and bullpen coach, respectively. The team also hired Darnell Coles as hitting coach after Kevin Long left to take a multi-year offer from the Phillies for the same position.

SAN FRANCISCO – When he stepped into the on-deck circle in the top of the second Friday night, Victor Robles immediately heard Davey Martinez say it.

“Get your hands up!” the Nationals manager implored his center fielder from his dugout perch only a few feet away.

When he stepped into the on-deck circle again in the top of the third, Robles again heard the same message from his manager.

“Yeah, every time,” Robles said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “Every time I go into the on-deck circle, he reminds me.”

Yep, it happened again in the top of the sixth, then the top of the seventh, then the top of the eighth. At some point, Robles didn’t even wait for his manager to say it. He jumped the gun and said it himself before the message could be delivered.

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