WASHINGTON - How much of a difference – be it good or bad – do pitching and hitting coaches make among veteran and young players alike at the major league level?
The Washington Nationals are about to find out and the onus for a major shakeup is going to fall squarely on the shoulders of manager Dave Martinez.
“Good pitchers make great pitching coaches,” Paul Menhart, 51, told Federal Baseball from his home in Georgia on Monday night. “And that’s a fact.”
He should know.
Just seven months into his job as pitching coach, Menhart rode the right arms of Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer and the left arm of Patrick Corbin to win the World Series over the Houston Astros a year ago.