Different career paths reunite Mathews and Doolittle in D.C.

Throughout this offseason’s hiring process, we’ve been able to connect some dots to people who we wouldn’t have otherwise believed to be connected.

Despite operating in varying roles in the same division for a long time, the Nationals’ new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni (who spent the last 10 years with the Red Sox) and new manager Blake Butera (who spent the last the last 10 years with the Rays) had never met in person before Butera’s first interview. In fact, Monday’s introductory press conference for the new skipper was only the second time they had met in person.

Toboni came to learn more about Butera from a phone call from Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, who employed the new Nats manager as his bench coach for Team Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Butera is very close with new Orioles manager Craig Albernaz, who coached him during his only two seasons as a professional baseball player in the lower levels of the Rays minor league system.

And so on and so forth.

Little did we know that when the Nats’ new leadership hired a previously unknown name as their new pitching coach that 1) They would also be retaining at least one beloved holdover from the previous coaching staff and 2) That person would already have a close relationship with the new guy in charge of pitching.

Indeed, the dots were easily connected between 30-year-old Simon Mathews, the new pitching coach on Butera’s still-growing staff, and 39-year-old Sean Doolittle, the beloved former reliever turned pitching strategist who will remain with the Nats in a still-to-be-determined role.

“I don't know how much you guys know about my relationship with Sean, but we go back,” Mathews said in an introductory Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday. “He trained with me when I worked at a facility called Push Performance in Arizona, and he and I have stayed in touch over the years. He's become a great pitching friend of mine in the industry.”

Sure enough, while Mathews was trying to get back into baseball after a successful college career at Georgetown but some time away following the end of his minor league career, who should walk into the Push Performance lab trying to revitalize his major league career other than World Series champion Sean Doolittle?

The two would also go on to join the Reds organization in different capacities in 2021: Doolittle signed a one-year deal to join the bullpen and Mathews went to the Dominican Republic to implement the club’s pitching program at its academy.

Doolittle finished the 2021 season with the Mariners and re-signed with the Nats in 2022 before his playing career ended due to injuries. He joined former manager Davey Martinez’s staff ahead of the 2023 season as a pitching strategist, a title he held for the past two years.

Mathews remained with the Reds, moving up to rehab pitching coordinator in 2022, then serving as their assistant coordinator of rehabilitation and pitching initiatives in 2023-24 and finally reaching the major leagues as their assistant pitching coach in 2025.

As the Reds’ young pitching staff led them to their first postseason appearance in five years, Mathews’ name became better known in baseball circles. But he already had the admiration and friendship from someone who had made a name for himself in D.C. Someone who he also admired for making a successful career change like he did.

“It's been really cool to see him transition into coaching,” Mathews said of Doolittle. “It feels like every single conversation I have with him, he's learned exponentially more and increased his skill set. So that's been awesome. So when I found out that the Nats were reaching out to potentially interview me, he was my first call. I kind of wanted to know where he stood. But also, what his feelings were around everything that was going on.”

Doolittle’s feelings apparently were great because he talked up Toboni and Butera enough for Mathews to want the job in Washington.

“He had a lot of really great things to say about Paul and Blake,” Mathews said. “Blake and I didn't know each other before this process, but I had heard some really spectacular things about Paul from people I trust deeply in the industry. So that was kind of how it came about.”

Toboni and Butera made their own strong impressions, too. It didn’t take long for Mathews to decide he wanted to join them and reunite with his good friend to help build something special with the Nationals.

“To have an expectation going in of people you've heard a lot of great things about,” he said, “and then to have them really deliver and go above and beyond kind of what my expectations were, made me really excited about it.”