Up and in, low and away. That’s how you attack hitters. That’s always been how you attack hitters. There are exceptions, of course. Some hitters struggle with low-inside pitches, so they see more of them. Some hitters are so feeble that pitchers just pump fastballs down the middle and dare them to do their worst. Some pitchers just throw their best pitch and don’t bother worrying about the hitter at all. But most of the time, it’s up and in, low and away. Ben Clemens wrote about a version of this yesterday, in a piece that focused on the data behind why pitchers throw inside fastballs. And the toughest inside fastballs to hit are those thrown up and in.

Pitchers have been throwing hard stuff up and in for as long as they’ve been throwing hard stuff, but Statcast’s new bat tracking data allowed us a new peek at why that’s such a successful game plan. The heat map for bat speed below is extra red because it belongs to Aaron Judge, but insofar as the least red spot is the high-inside strike, it might as well belong to any hitter.

It’s harder to get your bat around up there. It requires a stiffer, more rotational (as opposed to linear) swing. You can’t get your arms extended. You can’t drop your bat head on the ball. Bust somebody up and in with something hard, and they’ll have a tough time catching up to it; now confirmed by science.

Because we are not Ben Clemens, we’re going to focus on down and away today, and we’re going to focus on batters. As you can see from Judge’s heat map, bat speed tends to be slower down there too. We’re no longer just talking about getting your arms extended. You have to modify your swing to reach pitches that far away, bending and reaching, slowing down your bat because the optimal contact point is deeper. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from bat tracking data, it’s that those kinds of adjustments make you hemorrhage bat speed. Low and away is also where trickier pitches like offspeed and breaking balls tend to end up. Nobody is good against those pitches, and I do mean nobody.

See the spot in the heat map that says 77.0 mph, inside the strike zone, but on the outer third and in the bottom third? Since 2008, 225 left-handed batters and 297 right-handed batters have seen at least 500 pitches in that low-and-outside box. According to Baseball Savant’s run values, not one of those players has a positive run value against those pitches. Not one! Every single player has been below average in that particular box, and that’s not true of any of the other 12 boxes. The two players who have come closest to breaking even on those low-and-outside strikes are Hall of Famer David Ortiz, who has been worth -0.08 runs per 100 pitches, and future Hall of Famer Mike Trout, who has been worth -0.4. It’s just not possible to perform well against that pitch (at least not without eschewing the rest of the strike zone, but no one would ever do that), even if you’re literally Mike Trout.

So we’ve established that the low-outside strike is hard to hit. It took 500 words, but we’re here now. The heat map below belongs to James Wood, and it’s part of the reason we’re talking about pitching people low and away. The numbers in this heat map show run value per 100 pitches, and they show why Wood is the poster boy for difficulty down and away.

After a season and a half in the majors, Wood is the proud owner of 4.6 WAR, a 125 wRC+, and one of the most explosive swings in the game. That’s amazing. He’s just 23 years old. He looks like he will be great for at least another decade. He’s also the owner of this particularly lopsided heat map. He’s patient to a fault, which means that he’s excellent on pitches outside the strike zone. He’s great when he can get his long arms extended or when he can drop his bat head on the ball. But throw him something, anything down and away but still inside the zone, and he turns into a (very imposing) pumpkin.

If you’re a regular FanGraphs reader or just a fan of the Nationals (or Padres), you’ve likely known the book on Wood since long before he actually debuted in Washington. He’s really big. He hits the ball really hard. He hits it on the ground. He whiffs a lot too. Major league pitchers knew the book as well, and they most definitely saw some earlier version of that heat map the second the Nationals called Wood up in July 2024.

I can say that for certain because even though he was just a 21-year-old rookie, 24.2% of the pitches Wood saw were located in those three blue boxes. Among players who saw at least 1,000 pitches, that was the highest rate in baseball (switching the side of the plate around for right-handers, of course). In 2025, that rate fell to 23.8% and Wood fell to third place, behind Dansby Swanson (24.5%) and Tommy Pham (24.2%). What those numbers mean is that from the moment he debuted, pitchers have known that the only way to attack Wood was to stay the hell away from his gigantic bat. Aim for the outside corner, keep it low, and hope for the best.

In a narrow sense, that strategy has been wildly successful, as those three blue boxes can attest. In 2025, 457 players saw at least 100 pitches within those boxes. Wood’s 50% swing rate ranked 376th, meaning he took way more called strikes than the average player. When he did swing, his 28.7% whiff rate was tied for 426th place, meaning that he ended up with way more swinging strikes than the average player. When Wood put the ball in play, he was more successful than the average player, because of course he was. Even though that’s the spot where he has his lowest bat speed, lowest exit velocity, and lowest launch angle, he still hits the ball so hard that it can’t help but find grass. He ran a .418 wOBACON on those pitches. But that’s not enough to mitigate all those extra strikes.

In a broader sense, that plan has its limits. Aiming for the corner against a player as patient as Wood means that when you miss, you’ve got a higher chance of missing the zone entirely, and Wood is so patient that he’ll make you pay for it. Once you’re behind, you have to hit the heart of the zone. More importantly, this is something of a desperation move. For years now, the trend across the league has been toward throwing the ball right over the middle and trusting your stuff to do the rest. The fear of grooving a pitch to Wood is driving pitchers toward an older, less successful game plan. Wood is bad at handling that pitch, but so is every hitter on earth. He’s seeing so many pitches there because against a hitter like him, all the options are suboptimal. Wood may not get to the next level as a hitter until he can find a way to cover more of the strike zone, but he’s young and he’s still learning. He may well get there. In the meantime, he’s still striking fear into the hearts of pitchers, and they’re doing their best to stay away from him.

Direct links to applications (please see job details below):

Minor League Affiliate Pitching Coach
Minor League Affiliate Defensive Coach
Minor League Affiliate Hitting Coach
Coordinator, Minor League Hitting (Upper Level)
Major League Dietitian
Minor League Strength & Conditioning Coach

Our Vision
To become baseball’s highest performing organization — defined by our relentless pursuit of excellence, strengthened by our connection, and fueled by our positive energy.

Our Core Values

• Joy. We want to be around people that like to have fun. We remain optimistic through the ups and downs, we enjoy the process, and we share in something bigger than ourselves.
• Humility. We don’t have all the answers. We lead with curiosity, listen generously, and seek growth from every experience — especially the tough ones. We have gotten over ourselves.
• Integrity. We do the right thing, even when it’s hard. We act with honesty, accountability, and respect for our teammates and ourselves. We treat the custodian like the king.
• Competitiveness. We embrace challenges and thrive in high-stakes environments. We prepare relentlessly. We are energized by the idea of keeping score.

Minor League Affiliate Pitching Coach

Position Summary
The Washington Nationals are seeking passionate and innovative minor league pitching coaches to join in creating a world-class pitching pipeline for the 2026 season. This is a uniformed position that will report to and work closely with the Pitching Coordinator, Director of Pitching, PD leadership, and appropriate stakeholders to develop and implement cross-departmental, individualized player performance plans throughout the season.

Ideal candidates embody our core values (joy, humility, integrity, and competitiveness) and are highly motivated, with a proactive and creative growth mindset.

Primary Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Pitching Coordinator, Director of Pitching, and other support staff to create and implement player-specific pitching improvement plans.
• Collaborate with affiliate medical and S&C staff to carry out and execute player plan goals.
• Implement dynamic pitching practice environments and assist field staff with daily on-field practice as needed.
• Track player pitching performance and provide data-driven insights using baseball technology and other internal analytical tools.
• Lead pitching player performance meetings.
• Help prepare and implement daily pitching game plans and opposing hitter advance reports.
• Track relevant player progress through internal note-taking structure and execute a world-class transition process, as players move from level to level.

Qualifications

• Detail-oriented with a strong ability to create programming and practice settings that promote goals of the pitching department.
• Desire to learn, grow, and develop personally and professionally in alignment with organizational values and philosophies.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex data-driven concepts to players in an easily understood, actionable manner.
• Prior experience coaching, playing, or working in an innovative baseball performance setting is preferred.
• Experience with baseball technologies and video/biomechanical analysis preferred.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.

Compensation:
The projected annual salary range for this contracted position is $55,000-$75,000 per year. Actual pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to the applicant’s: qualifications, skills, expertise, education/training, certifications, and other organization requirements. Starting salaries for new employees are frequently not at the top of the applicable salary range.

Benefits
The Nationals offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that presently includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• 401(k) and pension plan
• Access to complimentary tickets to Nationals home games
• Employee discounts
• Free onsite fitness center

Equal Opportunity Employer:
The Nationals are dedicated to offering equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

Minor League Affiliate Defensive Coach

Position Summary
The Washington Nationals are seeking passionate and innovative minor league defensive coaches to join in creating a world-class player development pipeline. This is a uniformed position that will report to and work closely with the leadership in the Defense, Baserunning, and Game Play Department to develop and implement individualized defensive improvement plans throughout the season. Affiliate defensive coaches will evaluate performance, create effective programming, and execute championship caliber training environments while working closely with on-site support staff (S&C, medical, etc.) to carry out cross-departmental player plan goals. Ideal candidates embody our core values (joy, humility, integrity, and competitiveness) and are highly motivated, with a proactive and creative growth mindset.

Primary Responsibilities

• Collaborate with defensive coordinators and other support staff to evaluate performance, create programming, and implement player-specific defense improvement plans.
• Execute world-class training environments at the affiliate level in alignment with organizational defensive philosophies.
• Communicate player performance and training progress with appropriate stakeholders, including players and leadership.
• Prepare daily and weekly defensive positioning and game planning.
• Track player defensive performance and provide data-driven insights using baseball technology and other internal analytical tools.
• Assist affiliate staff with additional daily practice goals, as needed.

Qualifications

• Detail-oriented with a strong ability to evaluate performance, create programming and execute training.
• Desire to learn, grow, and develop personally and professionally in alignment with organizational values and philosophies.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex data-driven concepts to players in an easily understood, actionable manner.
• Prior experience coaching, playing, or working in an innovative baseball performance setting is preferred.
• Experience with baseball technologies and advanced defensive metrics preferred.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.

Compensation:
The projected annual salary range for this contracted position is $55,000-$75,000 per year. Actual pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to the applicant’s: qualifications, skills, expertise, education/training, certifications, and other organization requirements. Starting salaries for new employees are frequently not at the top of the applicable salary range.

Benefits:
The Nationals offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that presently includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• 401(k) and pension plan
• Access to complimentary tickets to Nationals home games
• Employee discounts
• Free onsite fitness center

Equal Opportunity Employer:
The Nationals are dedicated to offering equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

Minor League Affiliate Hitting Coach

Position Summary
The Washington Nationals are seeking passionate and innovative minor league hitting coaches to join a world-class hitting pipeline for the 2026 season. This is a uniformed position that will report to and work closely with the Hitting Coordinator, Director of Hitting, PD leadership, and relevant stakeholders to develop and implement individualized, cross departmental player performance plans throughout the season.

Ideal candidates embody our core values (joy, humility, integrity, and competitiveness) and are highly motivated, with a proactive and creative growth mindset.

Primary Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Hitting Coordinator and Director of Hitting to create and implement player-specific offensive improvement plans.
• Collaborate with affiliate S&C and medical staff to carry out and execute player plan goals.
• Execute daily hitting practice environments and assist field staff with daily on-field practice goals.
• Track player offensive progress and provide data-driven insights using baseball technology and other internal analytical tools.
• Help prepare and implement daily offensive game plans and advance reports.
• Lead in-season hitting player performance meetings.
• Track relevant player progress through internal note-taking structure and execute a world-class transition process, as players move from level to level.

Qualifications

• Detail-oriented with a strong ability to create programming and practice settings that promote goals of the hitting department.
• Desire to learn, grow, and develop personally and professionally in alignment with organizational values and philosophies.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex data-driven concepts to players in an easily understood, actionable manner.
• Prior experience coaching, playing, or working in an innovative baseball performance setting is preferred.
• Experience with baseball technologies and video/biomechanical analysis preferred.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.

Compensation:
The projected annual salary range for this contracted position is $55,000-$75,000 per year. Actual pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to the applicant’s: qualifications, skills, expertise, education/training, certifications, and other organization requirements. Starting salaries for new employees are frequently not at the top of the applicable salary range.

Benefits:
The Nationals offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that presently includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• 401(k) and pension plan
• Access to complimentary tickets to Nationals home games
• Employee discounts
• Free onsite fitness center

Equal Opportunity Employer:
The Nationals are dedicated to offering equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

Coordinator, Minor League Hitting (Upper Level)

Position Summary
The Washington Nationals are seeking a minor league hitting coordinator to join in creating a world-class hitting pipeline. The hitting coordinator will report to and work closely with the Director of Hitting and PD leadership to implement a cross-discipline, strategic philosophy to build a sustainable system of player and staff development. This position will also work closely with affiliate hitting coaches to develop individualized player performance plans. Ideal candidates embody our core values (joy, humility, integrity, and competitiveness) and are highly motivated, with a proactive and creative growth mindset.

This is a roving position that will be focused on the upper levels (AAA, AA, A+) and include travel to respective affiliates throughout the season.

Primary Responsibilities

• Oversee implementation of organizational hitting philosophies at the upper minor league levels (AAA, AA, A+).
• Communicate regularly with affiliate hitting coaches to provide support, feedback, and staff development opportunities throughout the season.
• Collaborate with Director of Hitting, hitting coaches, and support staff to create player-specific offensive improvement plans.
• Collaborate with medical and S&C departments to ensure the execution of rehabilitation and return-to-play programs.
• Track player hitting performance and provide data-driven insights using baseball technology and other analytical tools.
• Ensure healthy communication to execute a world-class transition process as players move from level to level.

Qualifications

• Detail-oriented with a strong ability to create inventive programming and practice design.
• Proven experience organizing and connecting a cohesive team that embodies the organization’s values and vision.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and communicate clearly and effectively, challenging and empowering teammates to grow personally and professionally.
• Strong decision-making skills and track record applying analytical ideas and data-driven concepts within baseball.
• Prior experience coaching or leading in an innovative baseball performance setting.

Compensation:
The projected annual salary range for this contracted position is $100,000 – $125,000 per year. Actual pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to the applicant’s: qualifications, skills, expertise, education/training, certifications, and other organization requirements. Starting salaries for new employees are frequently not at the top of the applicable salary range.

Benefits:
The Nationals offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that presently includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• 401(k) and pension plan
• Access to complimentary tickets to Nationals home games
• Employee discounts
• Free onsite fitness center

Equal Opportunity Employer:
The Nationals are dedicated to offering equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

Dietitian, Major League

Position Summary
The Major League Nutritionist will serve as the architect of the Nationals’ nutritional strategy at the Major League level. This individual will ensure that all players and staff have access to world-class nutrition resources that optimize performance, recovery, and health. The role includes developing individualized nutrition plans, coordinating daily fueling and hydration logistics, and aligning nutrition objectives with the goals of other departments, including Coaching, Strength & Conditioning, Player Development, and Medical.

The position will travel approximately 50% of the time with the Major League team and maintain consistent communication with internal staff, visiting clubhouses, vendors, and food service providers to ensure consistent, high-quality nutritional offerings at home and on the road.

The Nationals are a military-friendly organization actively recruiting veterans and spouses.

Primary Responsibilities
Alongside key stakeholders, lead the development of a world-class nutrition infrastructure, including:

• Design and oversee individualized, evidence-based nutrition and hydration plans and testing protocols for all Major League players based on performance goals, body composition, and health needs.
• Coordinate day-to-day fueling operations for players and staff, including meals, snacks, and supplements at home and on the road.
• Work directly with the Major League strength & conditioning, coaching, and medical staffs to ensure nutrition plans align with physical, performance, and recovery objectives.
• Serve as the primary liaison to food vendors, visiting clubhouses, and hotel staff to ensure the Nationals’ standards for quality and nutrition are consistently met.
• Develop education programs for players and staff to reinforce the role of nutrition in performance, health, and recovery.
• Monitor player adherence to nutrition plans and collaborate with staff to evaluate outcomes and adjust strategies as needed.
• Manage inventory and budget for nutritional supplies, ensuring efficient use of resources while maintaining elite standards.
• Collaborate with Minor League Nutrition and Performance staff to ensure consistency in nutrition philosophy and transition plans for developing players.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in nutrition, Dietetics, Exercise Science, or related field (Master’s preferred).
• Registered Dietitian (RD/RDN) credential required; CSSD certification preferred.
• Servsafe certification and ISAK certification preferred or interest in obtaining
• Minimum 3 years of experience in elite athletics, preferably MLB or professional sport setting.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with ability to collaborate effectively across departments.
• Ability to communicate in Spanish preferred.
• Proven ability to manage travel schedules, vendor relationships, and operational logistics.
• Deep understanding of performance nutrition, recovery strategies, and the demands of a professional baseball season.

Personal Qualities:

• Detail-oriented and highly organized.
• Strong communicator capable of earning trust and buy-in from players and staff.
• Flexible and proactive problem solver, able to adapt quickly to the demands of the season.
• Passionate about helping athletes reach their peak potential through science-based nutritional support.

Compensation:
The projected annual salary range for this contracted position is $105,000 to $125,000 per year. Actual pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to the applicant’s: qualifications, skills, expertise, education/training, certifications, and other organization requirements. Starting salaries for new employees are frequently not at the top of the applicable salary range.

Benefits:
The Nationals offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that presently includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• 401(k) and pension plan
• Access to complimentary tickets to Nationals home games
• Employee discounts
• Free onsite fitness center

Equal Opportunity Employer:
The Nationals are dedicated to offering equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

Coach, Minor League Strength & Conditioning

Position Summary
The Washington Nationals are looking for a Strength and Conditioning Coach to serve one of our affiliate teams for the 2026 season. Responsibilities of this position will include assisting in the creation and implementation of the Washington Nationals Minor League Strength and Conditioning Program during Spring Training of 2026 and at their assigned affiliate for the 2026 minor league season.

Primary Responsibilities

• Implementation of the organization’s strength and conditioning program
• Implementing and supervising the Nationals Strength & Conditioning program at their assigned affiliate the 2026 championship season.
• Collection, organization, and dissemination of workload data collected both in-game and practice.
• Daily, Weekly, and Monthly reporting on players training data and progress
• Communication between departments regarding player assessments and evaluations.
• Assist with nutritional needs for their assigned affiliate.
• Contacting players as well as assisting with their programs held over the off-season.

Qualifications

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science, Kinesiology, or Related Field
• Certification through the NSCA (CSCS)
• CPR/AED/First Aid
• Vehicle and Laptop computer

Preferred:

• Master’s Degree in Exercise Science, Kinesiology, or Related Field
• Experience using a variety of sport science devices such as 1080 Motion Devices, Vald Ecosystem, GymAware, etc.
• 2 years of strength and conditioning experience (baseball experience preferred)
• Bilingual (Spanish)
• Willingness to learn and continue their education within and beyond the Strength and Conditioning field

Compensation:

• Salary will be based on qualifications and experience
• Room & Board during Spring Training
• In-season housing allowance and meal money on road trips
• Health benefits and a 401k package are provided
• Airfare or mileage reimbursement will be provided to Spring Training and their assigned affiliate

Application Information
Submission Instructions: Please email a single PDF copy of your cover letter, resume, and 3 references to Gabe Torres at gabe.torres@nationals.com and Shane Hill at Shane.Hill@nationals.com

Original Posting:
Please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Washington Nationals.

The Arizona Diamondbacks might have the best middle-infield duo in MLB, which is something most people outside of their fanbase probably aren’t aware of. Mike Hazen didn’t disagree when I suggested as much to him in Las Vegas.

“We’ve always dealt with that,” the D-Backs general manager replied. “We play on the West Coast — we play late for the East Coast — and we’re not on national TV a lot, so it comes with the territory. But yeah, [Geraldo] Perdomo probably had a top-five season in all of baseball this year, and [Ketel] Marte does it every year. With those two guys, along with [Corbin] Carroll, I think we have three of the top 25-30 guys in all of baseball.”

That was certainly the case in 2025. Carroll, the club’s right-fielder, ranked seventh-best in MLB with 6.5 WAR, while the keystone combination came in at fifth-best (Perdomo at 7.1) and 24th-best (Marte at 4.6) respectively. Productive bats were a big reason for that. Carroll put up a 139 wRC+, Perdomo was a tick below at 138, and Marte was fourth-highest in the senior circuit at 145.

How long Arizona’s middle infield will remain intact is currently in question. Rumors that Marte — on tap to gain 10-5 rights in the coming season — could be traded have been circulating, and while Hazen has reportedly said that moving the 32-year-old second baseman is “mostly unlikely,” he has also acknowledged a need to listen to offers. Howe many of those he has received to this point is unknown, but given Marte’s résumé — the three-time All-Star has a 140 wRC+ and 15.3 WAR over the past three seasons — the return would be noteworthy. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re less than a month from the Winter Meetings and the Rule 5 Draft, which means it’s a good time to evaluate every team’s 40-man roster situation. This is the time of year when teams have one final chance to protect Rule 5 eligible players by placing them on the 40-man. Eligibility is determined by a mix of how long a player has been with their parent organization and how young they were when they signed: Players who signed at 18 or younger must be added to the 40-man within five seasons, while everyone else must be added within four. RosterResource monitors Rule 5 eligibility, if you’re curious to see the lay of the land.

During the season, teams can free up roster space by placing an injured player on the 60-day IL. In the offseason, teams don’t get extra slots for injured players, which tends to put pressure on the back of the roster. The Diamondbacks are a good example of how space can tighten quickly, as they’ve currently got six pitchers battling long-term injuries occupying a spot. You may have noticed a flurry of moves immediately following the World Series, with many teams outrighting players off the 40-man in order to make room for all the guys who were on the IL.

Below, I’ve assessed every National League team’s 40-man roster situation (Eric will sort through the American League tomorrow). Some teams, like the Braves, have plenty of roster space, and thus a lot of flexibility in adding whoever they like. Others, like the Cardinals and Marlins, will face some tough choices as they seek to balance protecting interesting prospects with retaining players already on the roster, as well as finding room for prospective additions via trade or free agency. Some clubs don’t have many impact players to add, while others may need to protect a half-dozen or so guys. I’ve tried to identify which players are most likely to be added, which guys on the 40-man are vulnerable to getting lopped off in a roster crunch, and who could be moved in a deal to free up roster space. Let’s dig in. Read the rest of this entry »

Daylen Lile was one of the top rookie performers in the senior circuit this season. The 22-year-old outfielder debuted with Washington Nationals in late May and went on to slash .299/.347/.498 with a 132 wRC+ over 351 plate appearances. Displaying a combination of speed and power, Lile legged out 11 triples and left the yard eight times. A ninth home run on his ledger was an inside-the-parker.

When I talked to him in September, I learned that Lile and Nationals teammate James Wood were doing a lot of drill work together in the batting cage. Left on the cutting room floor from our conversation— the ensuing feature can be found here — was what he told me about the work itself. Like most good hitters, Lile is diligent about his routine.

“Your preparation matters, because what happens there translates to the game,” he said. “Mechanically, I still have the same swing I had [when entering pro ball in 2021], although I have changed a few things. I started getting my foot down early to see pitches longer, and now I’m doing a toe-tap for more rhythm, getting synced with the pitcher.”

And then there is the routine itself. Lile has been doing his “movement-prep stuff,” since coming back from UCL surgery, which cost him the 2022 season. Getting his body loose and keeping it that way throughout a long season is an integral part of his process. As you might expect, the work he does in the batting cage is every bit as important. Read the rest of this entry »

Direct links to applications (please see job details below):

Analytics Intern, Baseball R&D (2026 Season)
Software Engineering Intern, Baseball R&D (2026 Season)

Analytics Intern, Baseball R&D (2026 Season)

Summary:
The Washington Nationals are seeking analytics interns to join our Baseball Research & Development team for the 2026 season. As an analytics intern, you’ll work on developing and applying your data science skills to baseball, performing research on baseball questions under the close mentorship of a team member of Baseball R&D. You’ll likely work on one project at a time, with plenty of time for model exploration and personal development. You’ll have the opportunity to work in a collaborative baseball front office daily at the stadium, watching baseball and engaging regularly with more senior members of our baseball operations group.

Internships are a key way for us to find future full-time members of our department, with many of our senior department members beginning as interns. While a pathway to a full-time position is not assured, many of our former interns have found full-time opportunities with the Nationals or other MLB clubs. We have availability for both summer internships and full season internships, with some flexibility on start dates.

The Washington Nationals are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The listed qualifications serve as guidelines rather than strict requirements. We encourage all enthusiastic candidates to apply, especially those from non-traditional backgrounds and historically marginalized or underrepresented groups. We will consider applications without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability or veteran status.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Use R to build statistical models to answer a primary baseball research question under the direction of a Baseball R&D team member
• Communicate findings through written reports, presentations, and informal conversations
• Design and build informative data visualizations for use in automated reports or internal web applications

Requirements:

Education and Experience Requirements

• Experience analyzing datasets and training statistical models using R, Python, or equivalent
• Has or is pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree from a four-year college or university, preferably in Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field
• Willingness to relocate to Washington, DC
• Authorized to work in the United States

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities necessary to perform essential functions

• Ability to complete statistical modeling projects
• Ability to listen and incorporate feedback, collaborate with others
• Enthusiasm for learning new skills related to programming, statistical modeling, and data visualization
• Passion for baseball and desire to work in baseball operations
• Working knowledge of sabermetrics and modern quantitative baseball evaluation concepts
• Demonstrate key personal qualities that contribute to a high-performing team environment. These include bringing joy and positive energy to daily work, maintaining humility and curiosity, acting with integrity and accountability, and embracing a competitive mindset focused on continuous improvement and shared success.

Physical/Environmental Requirements

• Occasional long hours may be required during draft, trade deadline, or postseason.
• Interns can attend all home games but are not required to. Meals are provided to staff during games.

Compensation:
The projected wage rate for this position is $17.95 per hour. Actual pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to the applicant’s: qualifications, skills, expertise, education/training, certifications, and other organization requirements. Starting salaries for new employees are frequently not at the top of the applicable salary range.

Equal Opportunity Employer:
The Nationals are dedicated to offering equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

Software Engineering Intern, Baseball R&D (2026 Season)

Summary:
The Washington Nationals Baseball Research & Development group is seeking a Software Engineering Intern to join our team for the 2026 season. Our group builds the data and software systems that power the Nationals’ decision-making across the baseball organization — from front-office analysis to player development processes, coaching decisions, and scouting evaluations.

As an intern, you’ll contribute directly to these systems by helping design data pipelines, APIs, and web applications used throughout our baseball operations department. Depending on your background and interests, you’ll have opportunities to focus on data engineering, web development, or a blend of both.

We have opportunities for both a summer-only internship (3-months) and a longer internship (6-months), with flexibility in starting dates. This internship is in-person in Washington, DC.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
The responsibilities will be some combination of the following, depending on whether the intern is focused on data engineering or web development.

• Build data imports and data pipelines using Prefect.
• Add functionality to our internal API microservice, implemented in FastAPI.
• Design and build interactive data-driven web pages using Vue.js and Ruby on Rails.
• Write documentation.

Requirements:

Education and Experience Requirements

• Has or is pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree from a four-year college or university, preferably in Computer Science or related field.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities necessary to perform essential functions

• Enthusiastic about working in baseball.
• Ability to work both collaboratively and independently with close attention to detail.
• Experience with modern programming languages (e.g. Python, Ruby, JavaScript, or similar) and with SQL.
• Some experience working on the command line in a Linux-like environment.
• Some experience using git for version control.
• Experience using AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Cursor) to accelerate development.
• Experience with some of the following technologies is preferred:
• Data frameworks: Pandas, Polars
• Web frameworks: FastAPI, Flask, Node.js/Express, Ruby on Rails
• Front-end frameworks: React, Vue.js
• Data Visualization frameworks: D3.js, Plotly
• Workflow orchestration tools: Prefect, Dagster, Airflow
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively.
• Authorized to work in the United States.

Physical/Environmental Requirements

• Office: Working conditions are normal for an office environment. Work may require occasional weekend and/or evening work. Occasional long hours may be required during the draft or trade deadline.
• Interns can attend all home games but are not required to. Meals are provided to staff during games.

Application Process
Approximately 10% of applicants will be invited to complete a take-home programming assignment, designed to take about 10 hours and to be completed within a 10-day window. We will review these submissions and invite selected candidates to participate in one or more video interviews.

Compensation:
The projected wage rate for this position is $17.95 per hour. Actual pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to the applicant’s: qualifications, skills, expertise, education/training, certifications, and other organization requirements. Starting salaries for new employees are frequently not at the top of the applicable salary range.

Equal Opportunity Employer:
The Nationals are dedicated to offering equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Washington Nationals.

Mike Burrows was rated as having the best curveball in the Pittsburgh Pirates system when I talked to him to for our old Learning and Developing a Pitch series back in 2022. Then a highly-regarded prospect, the 25-year-old right-hander relied heavily on his hook, a pitch that Eric Longenhagen assigned a 70 on the scouting scale and described as having “devastating bite and depth.” Our lead prospect analyst referred to it as his “meal ticket.”

Burrows is now a bona fide big-leaguer, but not because of a bender. Pitching in his first full MLB season — he made one appearance in 2024 — Burrows threw his erstwhile go-to just 11.9% of the time while logging a 3.94 ERA and a 24.1% strikeout rate over 96 innings. He’s evolved into split-change artist. Burrows threw what has become his most-used secondary pitch at a 23.7% clip this year. Moreover, he did so to the tune of a .147 BAA, a .220 slug, and a 43.1% whiff rate.

Why and how did he go from a killer curveball to a bat-missing splitter variant?
Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of different types of players get sent to the Arizona Fall League by their parent clubs: prospects who have lost time due to injury, org arms there to soak up enough innings for the league to function, guys eligible for the Rule 5 Draft whose teams aren’t yet sold on putting them on the 40-man roster, and, quite often, the most talented and exciting players in minor league baseball. It’s a rich and robust tapestry.

Now that the league’s action has commenced, one use of the AFL is to provide a sort of decontextualized look at some of the players whose strong performance in 2025 was already cause for some re-evaluation. Here’s one player from each AFL roster who arrived with some helium, prompting us to ask if they’ve changed their scouting report, or are just progressively improving into the player we expected.

Glendale Desert Dogs
Sam Antonacci, 2B, White Sox
2025 FV: Honorable Mention

Not only did the White Sox trade for Chase Meidroth months after giving Antonacci a slightly over-slot bonus in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, their Double-A Birmingham affiliate won the Southern League while slotting Antonacci in as the third straight feisty little bat-to-ball maven at the top of their lineup behind Rikuu Nishida and William Bergolla. At six feet, he’s a bit taller, but similar to Meidroth, below-average thump and a dearth of the athleticism necessary to drive a shortstop projection cooled early scouting reads for Antonacci, and he was an honorable mention for us on the White Sox list in April. Despite only playing his junior season there after two years of Division II ball, Antonacci is so Coastal Carolina-pilled that 35 hit by pitches form a substantial part of the .433 OBP he held over his first full pro season. (That he has yet to be plunked in his first three AFL games has to be, one would imagine, a source of deep personal disappointment.) Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the final Five Things I Liked (Or Didn’t Like) This Week of the year. As we prepare to leave the normal cadence of regular season baseball behind, we’re all already mentally preparing for the madcap pace of the playoffs, when the games are fewer but more momentous. This last week is more of a transitional phase; some of the series are monumentally important, while others feature the Royals and Angels (just to pick a random set) playing out the string. Maybe this is the best time for baseball, actually. If you’re looking for it, there’s more drama in the back half of September than in any other regular season month. But if you just want silly baserunning in inconsequential games, or role players making the most of big opportunities, there’s plenty of that too. I love October baseball, but I’ll be sad when September ends.

Of course, no Five Things intro would be complete without me thanking Zach Lowe of The Ringer for the format I’ve shamelessly copied. So Zach, I hope your Mets fandom isn’t too painful this week. To the things!

1. Playoff Races
Obviously. If this isn’t the thing you like most in baseball this week, you’re probably a Mets or Tigers fan, and even then, you’re probably lying to yourself a little. The thrill of a pennant race coming down to the wire is one of the great joys of this sport. Most of the time, I like baseball because no single outcome matters all that much. Lose a game? Play the next day. Strike out in a big spot? Everyone does that sometimes. Give up a walk-off hit? I mean, there are 162 games, you’re going to give up some walk-offs. But every so often, as a treat, it’s fun when the games suddenly transmute from seemingly endless to “must have this next one.”

Has the new playoff format played a role here? It’s hard to argue it hasn’t. This is the fourth year of the 12-team field, and it’s the fourth straight year with an unsettled playoff race in the last week of the season. It’s the third straight year with multiple good races, in fact. That’s not exactly unimpeachable evidence – the final year of the old format saw its own thrilling conclusion to the regular season – but the point is that when the last week of the regular season is filled with drama, it makes for a great playoff appetizer. I’m still unsure what the new format does to the competitive structure of the game, and I haven’t liked the way trade deadlines work when the line between contender and pretender is so hazy. But in late September, it sure seems to be giving me more of what I want. Read the rest of this entry »

The Nationals will remember 2025 as a gap year, if they’re lucky. The 2023 and 2024 teams, invigorated by many of the prospects acquired in the Juan Soto trade, each won 71 games, dragging Washington out of the bottom-of-table ignominy that it had occupied since winning the World Series in 2019 and then blowing up the roster. This year’s squad is going to finish with a win total in the 60s and some developmental hiccups, a step backward from the recent past. But lost in the broadly disappointing year is one bright shining beacon: Daylen Lile might just be a keeper.

Lile, a high school draftee in 2021, missed all of 2022 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, then spent the next two years methodically climbing through the minor league ranks. He started 2025 hot, with a .337/.383/.509 line in his first 40 games in the minors, and got his first taste of the majors when Jacob Young briefly hit the IL. Lile struggled during that first stint but landed in the majors for good a few weeks later when the Nats overhauled their bench. By the All-Star break, he’d carved out a role as a rotational right fielder.

That’s the boring part of this article. The exciting part? As Lile settled into big league life, opportunity beckoned. Young scuffled. Alex Call got traded. Dylan Crews was still out with injury. Lile? He just kept hitting. By August, he was locked in as a starter, and why not? Since the break, he’s hitting a sensational .323/.371/.552 for a 153 wRC+, and turning heads with his aggressive approach and hair-on-fire baserunning. Move over, other baby Nats – there’s a new top youngster in town.

Lile’s game is built around a sensational feel to hit. He regularly ran gaudy contact rates in the minor leagues, and his zone contact rate in the majors is above 90%, squarely in the upper echelon of the league. Like many hitters who make a ton of contact, Lile likes to swing. Unlike those peers, though, he’s done a good job of avoiding the over-chase downward spiral that traps so many singles hitters into lunging at sliders off the plate. Read the rest of this entry »