Washington Nationals hire a first base coach with an interesting back story

The Washington Nationals made another coaching hire and like the previous ones, this hire is fascinating. Corey Ray was hired to be the team’s first base coach. At 31 years old, he continues the Nats trend of hiring young. Before this, Ray was the Cubs base running coordinator.

However, this is not the most interesting part about Corey Ray. I am more fascinated by his backstory. If you are a real baseball nerd, the name Corey Ray might ring a bell. It should, because Ray was the 5th overall pick by the Brewers out of the University of Louisville. He was seen as a potential five tool star coming out of college.

The bat never quite came around for Ray, which made him a first round bust. He consistently struck out over 30% of the time in the Minors. Despite that, Ray still made the MLB, but only for one game. In that game, he went 0/2 with a walk. Now as a coach, Ray finally has a chance to make his mark in the MLB.

Despite the strikeout problems, Ray was always known as a smart player. He was one of those guys who teammates could see going into coaching one day. Ray did just that after he ended his coaching career. He became a manager in Rookie Ball for the Cubs and then also took over as base running coordinator.

Last season, the Cubs were actually third in base running runs with a positive 8. The Nats were neutral at 0 base running runs, which feels high to me given all of the base running mistakes the team made.

Being part of the base running plan tends to be a big part of the first base coach’s job. A good example of that actually came from the Mets first base coach Antoan Richardson. He helped the slow-footed Juan Soto steal 38 bases last year.

It is my belief that there is a lot of meat left on the bone for Nats players as base stealers. There is no reason someone as fast as Jacob Young should have 15 steals to 11 caught steals. When JY came into the league he was impossible to catch, but that part of his game has regressed. CJ Abrams best base stealing season came in 2023, before Gerardo Parra arrived as well.

Daylen Lile and Dylan Crews are other players who I think can steal a lot of bases given their speed. The Nats actually have a lot of team speed, but it has not been harnessed properly. They were either overly aggressive or just did not pick their spots properly on the bases. It also seemed like they were getting poor jumps a lot last year. In 2024, these guys started getting caught a lot and it caused them to start second guessing themselves.

Maybe Corey Ray, the first round bust can help change things on the bases for the Nats. With a lack of true star power on the roster, this team is going to have to win on the margins. Base running is one way they can do that. Hopefully Corey Ray can help the Nats win on the margins.