The Washington Nationals announced their 2024 Major League coaching staff on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo and Manager Dave Martinez made the joint announcement.

• Bench Coach – Miguel Cairo
• Hitting Coach – Darnell Coles
• Pitching Coach – Jim Hickey
• First Base Coach – Gerardo Parra
• Third Base Coach – Ricky Gutierrez
• Catching and Strategy Coach – Henry Blanco
• Bullpen Coach – Ricky Bones
• Assistant Hitting Coach – Chris Johnson

Cairo, 49, joins the Nationals after spending the 2023 season as the New York Mets’ Minor League infield coordinator. Prior to that role, he spent the previous two seasons (2021-22) as the bench coach for the Chicago White Sox. While on Chicago’s staff, he went 18-16 (.529) as acting manager for the final 34 games of the 2022 season. From 2018-20, Cairo worked as the Minor League infield coordinator for the New York Yankees. Following his retirement as a player in 2013, Cairo served as a special assistant to the general manager for the Cincinnati Reds until 2017. A veteran of 17 Major League seasons, Cairo made his Major League debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1996 before stints with the Chicago Cubs (1997, 2001), Tampa Bay Rays (1998-2000), St. Louis Cardinals (2001-03, 2007), New York Yankees (2004, 2006-07), New York Mets (2005), Seattle Mariners (2008), Philadelphia Phillies (2009) and Cincinnati Reds (2010-12).

Coles, 61, returns for his third season as Washington’s hitting coach. Under his guidance in 2023, CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas experienced breakout campaigns, while Joey Meneses and Keibert Ruiz were two Major League Baseball’s best hitters with runners in scoring position. As a club, the Nationals had the second-fewest strikeouts in Major League Baseball with just 1,149 – their fewest in a full season since 2008. Coles joined the Nationals in 2022 after spending the previous three seasons (2019-21) as the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hickey, 62, embarks on his third season as the Nationals pitching coach after joining Martinez’s staff in 2021. The 2024 season will be Hickey’s 42^nd season in professional baseball and his 19^th as a Major League pitching coach. Josiah Gray’s 2023 National League All-Star selection marked the 13^th different All-Star Hickey has coached. In addition to Gray, the 2023 season brought the development of young starters such as MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin as well as relievers Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Jordan Weems.

Parra, 36, embarks on his first role as a member of a Major League coaching staff. Parra joined Washington’s front office in May 2022 after a 12-year Major League career that concluded in 2021 as a member of the Nationals. After signing with Washington on May 9, 2019, Parra quickly became valuable asset both on the field and in the clubhouse en route to the 2019 World Series Championship. A two-time Gold Glove winner (2011, 2013), Parra appeared in 1,519 games across 12 Major League seasons with Washington (2019, 2021), San Francisco (2019), Colorado (2016-18), Baltimore (2015), Milwaukee (2014-15) and Arizona (2009-14).

Gutierrez, 53, moves to third base coach after spending the 2023 season as Washington’s run prevention coordinator. He joined the organization in 2022 as a special assistant in Washington’s international scouting department after five seasons (2017-21) in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Gutierrez spent two seasons (2020-21) as the manager of Double-A Chattanooga. In 2017, his first with the Reds, he served as the bench coach of Single-A Daytona before managing the club in 2018 and 2019. An infielder, Gutierrez was a first-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 1988 and went on to 12 Major League seasons with the San Diego Padres (1993-94), Houston Astros (1995-99), Chicago Cubs (2000-01), Cleveland Indians (2002-03), New York Mets (2004) and Boston Red Sox (2004).

Blanco, 52, returns for his seventh season on Martinez’s staff and his third in the role of catching and strategy coach. In this role, Blanco is charged with working with Nationals catchers while also providing strategic input in all aspects of game planning. He joined the organization in 2018 as Washington’s bullpen coach, where he served until 2021. The 2024 season will mark his 10^th consecutive season coaching alongside Martinez, his 11^th as a Major League coach and his 36^th season in professional baseball.

Bones, 54, will serve as Washington’s bullpen coach for the third season after joining the organization in 2022. He spent the previous ten seasons (2012-21) as the bullpen coach for the New York Mets after serving as a pitching coach in their Minor League system from 2006-11. Bones joined the coaching ranks after an 11-year Major League career that included an American League All-Star selection in 1994 as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Johnson, 39, joins the Nationals after spending the 2023 season with the Chicago White Sox as their assistant hitting coach. He joined their Major League staff after spending two seasons (2021-22) as the hitting coach for Triple-A Charlotte, his first professional coaching job. Johnson capped his eight-year Major League career with Miami in 2016 after previously playing for Cleveland (2015), Atlanta (2013-15), Arizona (2012) and Houston (2009-12). A native of Naples, Florida, Johnson was selected in the fourth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Stetson University.