The Nationals have hired Grant Anders for a role as a Major League development coach and bullpen catcher, according to the Washington Post’s Spencer Nusbaum. Anders stays in the Beltway after two years on the Orioles’ coaching staff in a similar role as a development coach.
Reports emerged a few weeks ago that Anders wouldn’t be returning to Baltimore, as the hiring of new manager Craig Albernaz naturally brought several changes to the coaching ranks. Anders had been with the O’s since November 2019, working as a development coach in the minors before his promotion to the big league staff prior to the 2024 season.
As outlined by reporter Jon Meoli during Spring Training 2022 (hat tip to Nusbaum for the link), the development coach role is something of an analytically-driven version of a traditional coaching job. “They must be competent enough on the field to coach and help players improve, yet deft enough with data and technology to be the affiliate’s in-house analytics expert,” Meoli wrote. This applied to Anders’ background when he broke into baseball at Radford University, and he moved onto internship and trainee roles with the Royals and Reds before being hired by the Orioles.
New Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni has made a point of younger hires and modern perspectives into his overhaul of Washington’s front office and on-field staff. Toboni (who is himself only 35 years old) has hired 33-year-old Blake Butera as the Nats’ new manager and 30-year-old Simon Matthews as pitching coach, with bench coach Michael Johns as the relative graybeard of the group at age 50. This group will now try to turn around a Nationals club that has struggled through six straight losing seasons, and Anders has some experience due to his work in helping the Orioles get through their rebuild period.