The Nationals finalized their coaching staff today. Hitting Coach Rick Eckstein, Pitching Coach Steve McCatty and Third Base Coach Pat Listach will return in the same roles in 2010. The club also named John McLaren bench coach, Jim Lett bullpen coach and Dan Radison first base coach.

Eckstein returns for a second season in Washington. He played an instrumental part in reshaping the offense and it showed significant gains in 2009 in runs per game (+0.40 per game), home runs (+39), batting average (+.007), on-base percentage (+.014), slugging percentage (+.033) and OPS (+.047) compared to the previous season.

McCatty was the Nationals Triple-A pitching coach for four seasons before being summoned to Washington on June 2. McCatty employed numerous pre-existing relationships with Nationals pitchers to help his staff post an ERA exactly one run better than that recorded in the season's first two months (5.69 ERA from Opening Day-May 31, 4.69 ERA from June 2 through season's end).

Listach will return for a second season as Nationals third base coach. Last season, Listach's judgment saw only 11 Nationals thrown out at home plate on non force-outs, a figure bettered by only the Cardinals (eight) in MLB. With added responsibilities as the Nationals infield instructor, Listach had a hand in Ryan Zimmerman earning his first career Rawlings Gold Glove.

McLaren, 58, will draw on 22 seasons of Big League coaching experience, including a stint as Mariners manager for portions of the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He replaced Mike Hargrove as Seattle's manager on July 2, 2007. While skippering the Mariners, McLaren hired Riggleman as his bench coach in 2008.

McLaren worked on Lou Piniella's staff for 15 seasons, and also enjoyed stewardships under Mike Hargrove, Cito Gaston, Jimy Williams and Joe Morgan. He has experienced five postseasons, including four division titles (Toronto in 1989 and Seattle in '95, '97 and 2001). McLaren spent the 2009 campaign as a Rays special assignment scout. He also served as Team USA's bench coach during the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.

Lett, 58, will draw on 15 seasons of Major League coaching experience, 11 spent as a bench coach with the Reds, Blue Jays, Dodgers and Pirates. He served as the Dodgers bullpen coach from 2001-04, where he worked alongside Riggleman, who was Jim Tracy's bench coach at the time.

Lett joins the Nationals after spending the previous two years coaching in Milwaukee's Minor League system. Lett has worked in professional baseball for each of the last 35 seasons as a player, coach, manager or front office executive. Lett is also a highly respected catching instructor.

The 59 year-old Radison begins his third tour with Riggleman, as the two worked together during Riggleman's managerial stays in San Diego and Chicago (NL). Outside of his stints with the Cubs and Padres, Radison has managed, coached or scouted for the Yankees, Cardinals and Mets organizations from 1984-2006.

He spent the previous three seasons as the Cardinals Minor League Hitting Instructor. While there, Radison worked closely with Eckstein, and helped Rick Ankiel (as a hitter), Skip Schumaker and Colby Rasmus graduate to St. Louis.

Derek Norris

All the hype surrounded Nationals first round pick Ross Detwiler after the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. Fourth round pick Derek Norris went under the radar. He can't hide any longer. He made a name for himself this season and was named the Nationals 2009 Minor League Player of the Year.

He joins Justin Maxwell (2007) and Leonard Davis (2008) as past recipients of the award. The Goddard, Kansas native, Norris turned down a scholarship to play at Wichita State and signed with the Nationals in 2007. He immediately become one of the Nationals top catching prospects. He hit .286 with 30 doubles, 23 home runs, 84 RBI and 78 runs scored in 126 games with the Single-A Hagerstown Suns this season. He paced full-season Washington farmhands in home runs, walks (90), on-base percentage (.413), slugging percentage (.513) and OPS (.926). He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League but fractured his left hamate bone while working out in the Instructional League.

He is built like Russell Martin, a short, stocky catcher with a powerful stroke at the plate. He doesn't have a time table for making it to the Majors, as those never seem to go as planned anyway. He will likely start the 2010 campaign with the Single-A Potomac Nationals and he has no intention on switching positions. 

"No, I'm not looking to change any positions," Norris said. "I know my numbers look a little shaky at times, as far as passed balls and errors but I think that if I keep progressing from year to year I'll achieve what I want to achieve."

The Player of the Year award adds to the laundry list of accolades the 20-year-old received in 2009. The right-handed hitting slugger earned both midseason and postseason South Atlantic League All-Star honors. Norris was named the SAL Most Outstanding Major League Prospect. He was recently cited in Baseball America's annual Best Tools survey voted upon by league managers as the Best Batting Prospect and Best Power Prospect in the SAL. While this was a banner year for Norris, there are many more accolades to come in his baseball career.

Going into the 2009 season, Nieves was expected to fill his previous role as the Nationals' backup catcher. When Jesus Flores went down with an injury 29 games into the season, Nieves' role increased and he became a platoon catcher with teammate Josh Bard.

Prior to joining the Nationals, Nieves made his Major League debut with the San Diego Padres in 2002 and then later spent time as Jorge Posada's backup on the New York Yankees. While he is regarded as a solid defensive catcher, his offensive numbers have kept him from becoming a starter.

Though he finished this year with a .259 batting average, Nieves actually performed slightly better than his numbers suggest. His BAbip, or the batting average on balls in play, was .311. This shows that, when Nieves does make contact with the ball, he hits it well.

What Nieves can improve upon are his power numbers. Going into the 2010 season, he only has two career home runs--his first coming in the form of a walk-off winner to right field on April 25, 2008 against the Cubs at Nationals Park.

Nieves was slowed down at the end of the season by a pulled hamstring but is on the mend and preparing for 2010. With Flores expected to recover by next season, Nieves looks to return to his role as a veteran backstop. It's a role he has flourished in.

Jason Bergmann

In his five seasons with the Nationals, Jason Bergmann has learned to adapt. This righty spent time as a reliever and a starter before being converted back to a fulltime reliever in 2009. Bergmann started this year on the Opening Day roster but went back and forth between the Big Leagues and Minor Leagues, eventually making it to Washington for good on July 4.

Bergmann pitched well for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs. In 19 relief appearances he went 1-1 with two saves, four holds and a 1.16 ERA, while posting a .212 batting average against. He appeared in a career-high 56 games for the Nationals in 2009. Overall, he went 2-4 with a 4.50 ERA and ten holds with the Nats.

This year, Bergmann raised his K/9 ratio to 7.5, up from 6.2 last season meaning he struck out more batters relative to the innings he pitched. On the flip side, his BB/9 ratio also went up from 3.0 last year to 4.7 this season, something Bergmann can definitely bring down for next year. His BABip, or batting average on balls hit into play, was .311 compared to his opponents' batting average of .270. This shows that, when batters hit the ball off of Bergmann, they hit it well, so he needs to work on reducing contact on his pitches.

"I'm not worried about throwing a perfect strike," Bergmann said. "I'm throwing a good pitch with conviction and knowing it's going to be a quality pitch."

No matter what role he finds himself in, Bergmann has always worked to improve and succeed. For instance, this year he worked on mixing his pitches better. This allowed the Nats to use him in more pressure situations, where Bergmann thrived. He finished 2009 with 10 holds and only allowed 14% (7/50) of inherited runners to score, which is below the league average of 30%. Look for Bergmann to continue to grow as a Big League ballplayer in 2010.

 Shairon Martis

  Shairon Martis led off the 2009 season with an impressive 5-0 run over his first seven starts. This included a complete game win over St. Louis on May 2 where he struck out six, walked one and allowed five hits.

Martis has been a strong pitcher, even from a young age. As a member of the Netherlands 2006 World Baseball Classic team, Martis pitched the only no-hitter in WBC history against Panama. After originally being drafted by San Francisco, the Nationals acquired him in a trade for Mike Stanton in 2006. He made his Major League debut for the Nationals on September 4, 2008 at 21 years, five month and six days old.

While he finished the 2009 Major League season with a winning record, the record was more indicative of the production from the offense during the games he started (6.48 RSA in his first seven starts) than his ability to shutdown opposing lineups. Martis had some mechanical issues throughout the season that led to a Minor League demotion

Martis improved in the Minor Leagues, increasing his K/BB to 2.22 and lowering his ERA to 4.96. At 22, he is still one of the youngest pitchers with Major League experience and has a bright future.  

Garrett Mock

Right-handed pitcher Garrett Mock played many roles for the Nationals this season, beginning the year with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs. He then joined the Nationals bullpen where he made 13 appearances between April 20 and May 18. After another short stint in the Minors, he was recalled for good on July 16 and joined the Nationals starting rotation.

In between his two Major League stints, Mock was back in Syracuse with the Chiefs, this time as a starter. He dominated the International League in that stretch, going 5-1 with a 1.52 ERA. He earned International League Pitcher of the Week honors after going 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two starts during the week of June 22. The highlight of that week was throwing a three-hit, 10 strikeout complete game shutout versus Columbus on June 22. Mock struggled a bit once he was called up and didn't get his first win until his fifth start on August 8. Overall, he went 3-10 with a 5.62ERA (0-2 with 6.92 ERA as a reliever and 3-8 with a 5.40 ERA as a starter.)

Looking closely at his numbers... While his ERA this year was 5.62, his FIP (fielding independent pitching) was 4.32. FIP measures a pitcher's skill based on the things he can control (home runs, strikeouts, walks and HBP) while removing the things he can't control, such as the defense behind him. Mock is actually over a run better than his ERA dictates. His K/9 ratio is 7.09, just slightly higher than the league average of 6.99, and a solid number. However his BB/9 ratio is 4.34, almost a full walk over the league average of 3.46. Why is this a problem? It puts runners on base which creates a situation that is difficult for Mock to get out of. Batters are hitting .317 against him with runners on base, while they are only hitting .299 when the bases are empty. Mock is also in more situations with runners on base (50% versus a league average of 45%). Keeping his walks down will help him avoid these situations and improve his performance overall.

Mock, 26, is still young and has time to work on his control. He impressed people this season and could be a candidate for the rotation going into Spring Training.  

Jesus Flores

Catcher Jesus Flores is a crucial part of the Nationals' plans for the future. Flores made his Major League debut in 2007 at the tender age of 22. The Nationals selected him from the Mets in the 2006 Rule 5 Draft, meaning they had to keep him on the Major League roster for the whole season or give him back to the Mets. He soon proved he had what it took to become the Nationals catcher of the future.

Jesus Flores was supposed to have a breakout 2009 season and cement himself as the Nats everyday catcher. It didn't quite go as planned. He missed the majority of the season with a broken right clavicle when he was struck with a foul ball in Arizona on May 9. Flores hit .311 with four homers and 15 RBI in 26 games before the injury. He tried to play in September but after three pinch-hit at-bats, he was shut down on September 12. Flores also missed the final month of the 2008 season with a sprained left ankle.

Flores only appeared in 29 games for the Nationals this season and after his brief September return, Flores was diagnosed with a torn right labrum. General Manager Mike Rizzo said the injury was not directly related to the broken clavicle but it did creep in during his rehabilitation. Dr. James Andrews surgically repaired the injury on September 16 and the timetable for the recovery is three to six months. The Nationals are optimistic about Flores returning by the start of Spring Training.

"I think his future is still bright," Rizzo said. "I think once we get this injury fixed, we get him on track. I still think we've got a 25-year-old starting catcher."

Ryan Zimmerman

It is official. Zimmerman can now decorate his mantel with a Rawlings Gold Glove.

It was hardly a surprise but it was by no means a guarantee when the official announcement was made that he won the first Gold Glove of his career. It is always tough to speculate how players and managers will vote: reputation, performance, spectacular plays or fewest errors? Traditionally, reputation trumps numbers.

Zimmerman ranked among league leaders in total chances (MLB-best 459), total chances per 9.0 innings (second in NL, 3.09), assists (MLB-best 325) and putouts (third in NL, 117). For what it's worth, he was the leading contributor to ESPN's nightly Web Gems segment too--typically the top-five best, most acrobatic, spectacular defensive plays of the day. At the same time, he committed 17 errors and posted a .963 fielding percentage. Of the 17 errors, 13 were throwing and four were with the glove.

But as we've documented before, those superficial defensive stats only tell a fraction of the story. Zimmerman might as well be a black hole at third base, he has unrivaled range and sucks up everything hit in his direction.

Just a day after receiving his first Gold Glove award, Zimmerman's mantel got a little more crowded when he was honored with his first Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger award. He provided it all season long at the plate and was recognized for it.

On May 9, the Nationals were clinging to a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth in Arizona. Zimmerman was 0-for-3 and at the plate with his 26-game hit streak on the line. He didn't waste any time extending it. He hammered the first pitch from Juan Gutierrez over the center field fence to give the Nats a 2-0 lead and extend the hit streak to 27-games. They won 2-1.

Zimmerman put up career numbers in 2009: a .292 average, 33 home runs, 106 RBI and 110 runs but there is one statistic that stands out. He cemented himself into Washington baseball history with a 30-game hit streak during the first month of the season. The streak started the second game of the season on April 8 and ended on May 13, with a 0-for-3, one-run, two-walk performance at San Francisco--not a terrible day at the park either. During the streak, he batted .382 (50-for-131) with 11 doubles, eight home runs, 26 RBI, 11 walks and 26 runs. It is the longest streak in Nationals history, longest streak for a third baseman since Royal's Hall-of-Famer George Brett posted a 30-game hit streak in 1980 and third longest streak in DC baseball history behind the 33-game streak by Heinie Manush in 1933 and 31-game streak by Sam Rice in 1924. The hit streak propelled Zimmerman into the Mid-Summer Classic for the first time in his career.

The Nationals made sure to lock up the face of the franchise in 2009 and they did on April 20. Zimmerman is signed through 2013 but he doesn't want to wait any longer to produce a winning ballclub. The 2010 Nationals will ride Zim's glove and bat all season long.

The Washington Nationals named Jim Riggleman field manager.

Riggleman will return in 2010 after posting a 33-42 (.440) record upon assuming the Nationals' helm on July 13. Riggleman's Nationals displayed marked improvement in extra-inning (3-1), one-run (13-9) and NL East (17-16) contests despite having a rookie starting pitcher toe the rubber 45 times in 75 games (60%). His club also posted eight- (August 2-9) and seven-game (September 28-October 4) winning streaks to account for two of the Nationals' four longest winning streaks since Major League baseball returned to The District in 2005. 

Defensively, the Nationals allowed 11 fewer unearned runs after the All-Star break compared to before, a trend mirrored by an improved fielding percentage (.979 in second half, .975 in first half) under Riggleman's gaze. Riggleman's renewed emphasis on defense and fundamentals paid nearly immediate dividends as only 10 of Washington's 37 multi-error contests in 2009 came after the All-Star break.

Riggleman's post All-Star break tenure also featured a precipitous drop in the Nationals' ERA (4.75), which fell almost half a run from the 5.21 mark posted prior to the All-Star break. Washington's ERA improvement of 0.46--first half compared to the second half--ranked fourth in the National League, seventh in baseball. The pitching improvement was especially evident in Riggleman's bullpen, which posted a 4.35 ERA compared to Washington's 5.71 relief ERA in the season's first half.  

The Nationals are Riggleman's fourth big league managing job. He has compiled a 585-694 record while managing San Diego (1992-94), Chicago-NL (1995-99), Seattle (2008) and Washington (2009-present). He posted a pair of winning records in five seasons with the Cubs, including a 90-73 (.552) record and a NL Wild Card in 1998.

Riggleman draws off 29 professional seasons of experience as a manager or coach, 17 at the big league level. Riggleman has served stewardships under Tony LaRussa, Jerry Manuel and Jim Tracy, among others.

A third baseman by trade, Riggleman played eight professional seasons after being drafted by the Dodgers in the 1974 First-Year Player Draft out of Frostburg State (MD) University. Riggleman grew up in nearby Rockville, MD and is a graduate of Richard Montgomery (MD) High School.