Washington Nationals hire Grant Anders as MLB player development coach

The Washington Nationals just made an interesting coaching hire. They made Grant Anders the bullpen catcher, but also an MLB player development coach. That last title is very intriguing and not a position the team had in the previous regime. However, given the youth on the roster it is a worthwhile addition to the coaching staff.

Anders is not new to this role either. He was an MLB player development analyst with the Orioles from 2021 until 2024. Then in the 2024 season he became an MLB player development coach for the O’s. After a difficult season in 2025 and staff turnover, Anders was out in Baltimore.

However, Paul Toboni has seen enough in Anders to put him on the MLB staff. Like most people in this new regime, Anders is young. He graduated from Radford in 2018, where he was the director of player development. After that, he immediately started working for MLB organizations. Anders worked for the Royals and Reds before taking a job with the O’s.

He is the epitome of that new school coach that Toboni and Butera seem to love. It is something the Nationals have needed for a while now. The coaching staff was much maligned over the last few years and these changes are the ones many fans have wanted. By making these changes, we can truly evaluate how good the players on the roster are.

While not every team has a full time MLB player development coach, they are becoming more common. Given the youth of the Nats roster, hiring a development coach makes a lot of sense. After all, player development does not just stop when you hit the MLB.

This is just another sign that this is a new era in DC. Mike Rizzo’s way worked for a long time, but things went stale towards the end. The new leadership is bringing in a totally different philosophy and I am excited to see it.

For years my biggest complaint is that the Nats were not operating like a modern organization and were stuck in the past. Now, they are trying to innovate or at least catch up to where the smartest teams in the league are.

On the surface, this is a fairly insignificant hire. However, Grant Anders is not going to be your average bullpen catcher. He will be in the lab with the players showing them ways to get better. This kind of hands-on coaching is exactly what our young players need. Only time will tell if this experiment works out, but I love the direction Paul Toboni is taking this franchise.