After a couple months of information slowly dripping out, the Nationals have finally announced their 2026 coaching staff, or at least most of it. At the Winter Meetings, Paul Toboni told reporters what the staff will be for 2026. Most of these names were already known, but there were a couple new faces in there.
It will be a 12 man staff, with a few new roles compared
to last season. We have already covered a few of these names, so I am mostly going to touch on the members of the staff we haven’t talked about. The biggest news here is that Matt Borgschulte will be the hitting coach.
The other day, we discussed how it was taking a long time for the Nats to name a hitting coach, but we have one now. Despite being only 35 years old, Borgschulte has a relatively long MLB coaching track record. He was the Orioles co-hitting coach from 2022 to 2024. Then he was the Twins hitting coach last season.
However, after the Twins fired manager Rocco Baldelli, Borgschulte was not retained by the new staff. He remains a respected hitting mind and is clearly a sharp guy. This interview he did about Gunnar Henderson’s swing when he was with the Orioles interested me.
Darnell Coles was the subject of a lot of scrutiny last season. Now we will get to see how much of a difference a new hitting coach can make. Hopefully Borgschulte can help elevate some of the Nats young hitters like James Wood, Dylan Crews, Brady House and the newly acquired Harry Ford.
Another new name is third base coach Victor Estevez. He was a Minor League manager in the Brewers organization the last few seasons at the High-A level. Over the past few years he has gotten to manage a lot of elite talent. A couple examples of players that played for him this past season are top prospects Jesus Made and Luis Pena.
Estevez has been in the Brewers organization since 2013. He coached in the Dominican Republic for a lot of that time. The bilingual element that he brings is definitely a positive. In 2024, Estevez was the Midwest League manager of the year. Interestingly, Estevez will also be the infield coach. He will have a big job on his hands there because the Nats infield really struggled defensively in 2025.
Another name that was reported on yesterday is bullpen coach and assistant pitching coach Dustin Glant. He has a unique background, though one that has become more common to see recently. Glant has been the pitching coach at the University of Indiana since 2022.
We have seen more of these college to pro moves in the coaching ranks this offseason. Obviously, Tony Vitello’s move to the Giants has been the most notable, but there have been others around the league. Glant will be one of two assistant pitching coaches, with the other being Sean Doolittle, who is the only carry over from last year’s staff.
Despite being in the running for a job, it does not look like assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson will return to the staff. For a while it looked like he and Doolittle would return to the staff, but as of right now, Johnson will not be back.
Another interesting note is that first base coach Corey Ray will be in charge of the outfield defense and base running. Given he was a speedy outfielder with a good glove, this is not overly surprising.
Overall, it is a 12 man coaching staff. Last year it was only a 10 man staff. Another big talking point has been the youth of the staff and that shows up in the numbers. Last year, the average age of the coaching staff was 51. This year it is just 36 years of age. Welcome to the new Nats!
Last season there was a lot of anger directed towards the coaching staff from sections of the fanbase. Now those fans will get their wish with pretty much a whole new staff. It is a clean slate here in DC. There will likely be some bumps in the road, but I am excited for the start of this new era.
