Dave Martinez – Washington Nationals
Last season, once again, the Washington Nationals made it to the NLDS just to watch themselves fail to reach the NLCS. Since 2012, the Nationals have reached the postseason four times, and each time they’ve failed to make it past the NLDS.
In back-to-back seasons (2016 and 2017) under Dusty Baker, the Nationals performed well in the regular season, taking home the NL East title in both seasons. But with Game 5 losses in both NLDS appearances, the Nationals fired Baker in hopes that a new manager can lead them to the promised land.
The Nationals tasked former major leaguer and Chicago Cubs’ bench coach Dave Martinez as manager. For Martinez, this becomes his first MLB managerial job. However, Martinez has spent the past 10 seasons as an MLB bench coach.
The 53-year-old got his first coaching job with the Tampa Bay Rays. Joe Maddon hired Martinez to be the club’s bench coach. He held the position until 2014. Maddon and Martinez reunited again in 2015, but this time with the Cubs. Martinez played a role in the Rays 2008 trip to the World Series and the Cubs’ 2016 championship.
As a player, Martinez played for nine different teams during his 16-year career. The nine teams include the Cubs, Montreal Expos, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves.
Martinez has a lot to deal with heading into the 2018 season. The team possesses plenty of talent to reach the playoffs again in 2018, but with Harper hitting free agency after this season, there’s never been more of a sense of urgency to win in D.C.
Perhaps Martinez can take his winning ways as a coach and finally push the Nationals past the NLDS and further into the playoffs.