WASHINGTON – When new Blake Butera, Washington Nationals coach Going into college, the Washington Nationals didn’t yet exist.
His age, or lack thereof, was a main character at Nationals Park Monday afternoon as the eighth skipper in franchise history was officially introduced. The stadium’s underground press conference room, decorated with red, white and blue roses, was packed for the occasion. Members of the club’s elusive ownership group, the Lerner family, dotted the front rows. A large crowd of front desk officials, clad in obligatory department store zip-ups, crowded the back of the room.
Advertisement
On the podium were only two signs; one for Butera and one for his new boss, Paul Toboni, the team’s recently hired president of baseball operations.
“As you have heard me say many times over the last six weeks, I am convinced that you win with people,” Toboni, 35, said during his opening speech. “And Blake’s character and ability to connect with everyone across the baseball spectrum is second to none.”
The two men then shook hands before Butera placed a red cap on his head and donned a crisp white uniform on his 1.70m frame. He and Toboni, former assistant general manager of the Boston Red Sox, briefly posed for a few photos before the skipper, still too young to run for president, moved in to introduce himself.
“As we move forward, our identity will begin with character,” Butera proclaimed. “I believe that real leadership is built on real relationships, relationships that create unity, clarity and common purpose. »
Advertisement
The task ahead is daunting.
(Get more Nationals news: Washington team feed)
Since winning the World Series trophy in 2019, the Nationals have achieved the second-worst record in baseball, better than the catastrophically disorganized Colorado Rockies. The trades made while dismantling that core paid off, including the Juan Soto deal that brought young All-Star outfielder James Wood to DC.
But overall, Washington has been a disaster in recruiting and development, an organization clearly not competent at improving players. This half-decade of ineptitude reached a turning point last July, when two title-winning stalwarts, general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez, were simultaneously fired.
Advertisement
And now, into this void, load Toboni and Butera, a pair of wrinkle-free, clean-shaven thirty-somethings. Together, they come armed with new perspectives, unequivocal expectations of themselves, and almost zero big league experience. Butera, in fact, never spent a day in a Major League dugout.
Drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 35th round of the 2015 MLB Draft after four gritty years at Boston College, the infielder’s career ended after two seasons in the minor leagues. But Butera quickly and successfully made the transition to coaching. In 2018, when he was just 25 years old, he was named manager of Tampa’s short-season affiliate, Hudson Valley. After two good years there, Tampa pushed him to Low-A Charleston, where he won two consecutive league championships and the Manager of the Year award. This ultimately landed him an important new position as the Rays’ senior director of player development, a role he held until his hiring a few weeks ago. Butera was also the bench coach for Team Italy under Mike Piazza during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
It’s an impressive resume, but not necessarily one that would have presaged a big-league coaching job, at least not in such a short time. In fact, Butera admitted he entered this winter not expecting to be part of the managerial carousel. His biggest concern was much closer to home: Butera’s wife Caroline was due to have the couple’s first child around the last week of October, while the Nats were trying to finalize the hiring.
Advertisement
To make things simple, Toboni flew to Raleigh, where the Buteras live, so Blake could stay close to home in case Caroline gave birth. It all happened on the same day, with Blake receiving the job offer before the birth of their newborn Blair and accepting it later that day after becoming a father. It’s been a whirlwind to say the least.
But Butera, still young, didn’t seem exhausted by the first trying days of parenthood. This is, by all accounts, a normal result. Although still ‘young for the level’, the new skipper has thrived. Butera earns rave reviews for his special ability to communicate with players, allowing them to get the most out of their skills. In this sense, his lack of traveling around the sun proved useful, allowing him to better interact with players close to him in age.
This will remain an important dynamic in DC, as a young Nats team attempts to return to contention. A whopping 60 percent of the team’s plate appearances last season were made by players aged 25 or younger. After a brilliant first half, Wood fought until the end. Consistency from the spindly hitter is key. The same goes for the development of the other kids on the roster, players like Dylan Crews, Brady House, CJ Abrams and Daylen Lile, into needle-moving pieces.
The pitching staff presents an even more formidable task. Only the Rockies, in their launchpad in the sky, had a higher ERA last season. Improvement on that front will largely be the responsibility of new pitching coach Simon Mathews, a former assistant with the Cincinnati Reds. Mathews, whose hiring was first reported by Yahoo Sportsis even younger than its skipper, having turned 30 only two months ago.
Advertisement
His hiring was yet another data point on which Toboni and Co. plan to chart a new course. This dynamic was further reinforced during Butera’s press conference on Monday. For better or worse, this era of Nats baseball will not unfold with a strategy of half-measures. Over the past five years, the Nationals have been an emblem of regressive and archaic baseball thinking. Unwilling and unable to adapt, the game left them behind, leaving them to catch up.
Change under Toboni will be significant, comprehensive and immediate. Big changes will be made. Character will take priority over experience. They will dream big. It’s risky and refreshing. Butera is perhaps too young, too green for such a big job. Maybe he’s great at the concert and the players aren’t up to it anyway. Maybe he’ll manage here for decades and oversee the glory years of DC baseball. Time will tell. But on Monday afternoon, he certainly looked up to the task and said all the right things in the right way.
For Nats fans, it is, at the very least, a plan to believe in.
