The Nationals announced that they have hired Simon Mathews as their new pitching coach. He had previously been an assistant pitching coach with the Reds. Russell Dorsey and Jake Mintz of Yahoo Sports reported the news prior to the club announcement. Spencer Nusbaum and Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post report that the Nats are also hiring Bobby Wilson as their major league catching coordinator.
“Simon brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and a wide range of experience to our staff,” said manager Blake Butera in the team’s press release. “He is grounded, has great perspective on pitching and connects incredibly well with players at all levels. He is widely respected throughout the game and the type of coach that makes everyone around him better. Simon is a tireless worker and is uniquely equipped to help our pitchers reach their full potential.”
Mathews, 30, was a pitcher but stalled out in the minors. He pitched in the Angels’ system for three years in his early 20s but never made it to the show. He then worked for companies like Push Performance and Driveline Baseball before getting hired by Cincinnati in 2021. He worked various jobs throughout the minors for the Reds before getting bumped to the big league staff in January of 2025.
This hiring continues the trend of the Nationals going very young in overhauling their franchise. Their ongoing rebuild appeared to stall out, prompting big changes. In July, president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez were both fired. Rizzo was 64 years old at the time and Martinez 60. It was reported last month that pitching coach Jim Hickey, 64 years old, would probably not be returning to the club next year.
The Nats hired Paul Toboni to replace Rizzo, Butera to place Martinez and now Mathews to replace Hickey. Toboni is 35 years old. Butera is 33. Matthews is 30. Younger doesn’t necessarily mean better but it is perhaps a symbol of the Nats feeling they fell behind the times and need to shake off the cobwebs. Mathews will be taking over a club with a lot of young pitchers who had some prospect hype but haven’t fully delivered yet, including Josiah Gray, Cade Cavalli and others.
Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images
Wow, what were YOU doing at age 30?
Waking up and going to work.
Gore for Abreu and Connelly Early. Win-win?
As a Nats fan I would strongly consider that deal. I would ask for more but that probably means what you just said is pretty fair.
I’m not sure how Abreu helps the Nats. They’re going to want prospects.
Give me a break.
There is absolutely ZERO chance that the Nats move Gore for anything less than a king’s ransom. Abreu and Early (a 50-grade prospect pitcher) are not even a “Mayor’s ransom.”
Look at the Crochet deal and you’ll see what it takes. Nats will ask for Anthony as a headliner for sure.
Gore won’t return a kings ransom.. he’s not good enough. He’s a 2-3 in a solid rotation. He might pull two backend t100s from a deep farm.. but he’s not getting 2 t50s like Crochet did
Padres tried to get Gore at the deadline and the ask was DeVries+. They will want waaay more than a solid platoon OF and a 50 grade pitching prospect. They probably won’t get it, but they’d laugh at Fan2222’s proposal.
They can want all they want. Gore collapsed after they stupidly didnt sell him at the trade deadline
He will return solid value but nothing franchise altering
If you know when players are at peak value you’re wasting your time here—you can make a fortune in the stock market. But of course you don’t know, or you’d be there.
BobinTexas – Gore is a #2 starter and Crocket and Anthony are generational talent. Wishful thinking will win you a World Series. Eh?
lol
I know I’m getting old but who are these people?
Professional baseball coaches
I’m sure you’re real familiar with his resume.
Are there any 30 something assistant hitting coaches out there in MILB or MLB. If there are, they will he hearing from Toboni.