Nationals hire Jim Hickey as pitching coach
“I have definitely evolved; it’s become more, as you know, data-driven,” Hickey said on a video call with reporters Monday. “But at the end of the day, it’s the same game, and the best pitch in the game is strike one and that kind of thing. I think I’ve got the best of both worlds — a little bit of old-school and a lot of the newer-age stuff as well.”
Washington had this opening after parting ways with Paul Menhart this month. Menhart was the pitching coach for most of 2019 and all of 2020. But Martinez’s new contract, a multiyear deal signed in late September, gave him more autonomy with his staff. The team did not renew the contracts of Menhart, hitting coach Kevin Long and bench coach Chip Hale. Tim Bogar, Bobby Henley, Henry Blanco and Pat Roessler are the other holdovers from last season, and all four were on expiring deals.
With Hickey on board, Martinez will keep molding the group to his liking. Bogar and Blanco go back to Martinez’s time with the Rays, too, making it likely they’ll stick around. Henley is an organizational lifer. Roessler figures to be on the thinnest ice, having been hired as assistant hitting coach at Long’s recommendation. Hickey’s hiring shows the Nationals are wasting no time.
“You have no idea; I don’t even think that I can explain it,” Hickey said of having a fresh challenge at this point of his career. “These last couple of seasons here, as I was a player development special assistant with the Dodgers, was really, really eye-opening, and it was very, very gratifying. But you always just have that major league tug. You want to get back to that.”
Hickey was the pitching coach when the Rays won their first American League pennant in 2008. Across a decade with Tampa Bay, he helped develop starters David Price, Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Moore, among others. His latest role, in player development with the Dodgers, led to more work with younger arms.
The Nationals will return Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin to their rotation in 2021. They’ll also bring back veterans Daniel Hudson and Will Harris in the bullpen. So what they’ll need most from Hickey — what the team has needed for years — is a push for unproven pitchers. Joe Ross, Erick Fedde and Austin Voth have yet to establish themselves as surefire starters. Relievers Tanner Rainey and Kyle Finnegan have a lot of positives to build on. Then the next wave, players such as Ben Braymer, Seth Romero and Kyle McGowin, could use a strong bridge between the minors and majors.
A lot will ride on Hickey’s ability to bring them all along. His recent experience with the Dodgers, a team with a knack for fostering arms, could help.
“What specifically stood out about them, especially with how they went about their minor leagues, was just how on the same page they all were,” Hickey said, outlining a web of communication that would include Martinez and pitching coordinators Brad Holman and Spin Williams in Washington.
“How united they all were and how close [they] were personally as well,” Hickey continued of the Dodgers. “I thought that that was very impressive. That’s the type of thing I would like to see. I’m not saying that’s not in Washington now, but that’s the type of thing I would like to see because you definitely have to be in the same step to get things done. And I don’t anticipate that that will be a problem at all.”
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