It’s clear that the top priority of the Washington Nationals right now is to fill out a coaching staff for their new manager Blake Butera and add members to their front office.
When 35-year-old president of baseball operations Paul Toboni decided to make 33-year-old Blake Butera the skipper of the Nationals, it was clear that some experience was needed on his staff. That came by way of hiring Michael Johns, a 50-year-old who had managerial experience at the Triple-A, High-A and rookie ball levels before becoming a first base coach in the bigs.
However, the rest of the hires have mirrored the youth approach Washington has gone with throughout the winter, as they hired 30-year-old Simon Mathews to become the pitching coach and Grant Anders to be their MLB development coach and bullpen catcher.
The Nationals added another piece of the puzzle on Tuesday. Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reported that Corey Ray was hired to be the team’s new first base coach.
Who Is Corey Ray?