The Washington Nationals officially named Simon Mathews the team’s pitching coach today, and the news was announced by manager Blake Butera.
Mathews, just turned 30 in September and is part of the youth movement in the Nationals dugout and front office. He joins the Nationals after five seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, most recently as their assistant pitching coach in 2025. He spent four seasons in Cincinnati’s Minor League system, serving as their assistant coordinator of rehabilitation and pitching initiatives (2023–24), rehab pitching coordinator (2022) and, in his first season in 2021, implemented the club’s pitching program at its academy in the Dominican Republic.
Prior to joining the Reds organization, Mathews was the director of pitching at Push Performance in Tempe, Ariz. and an online trainer at Driveline Baseball prior to joining the Reds organization in 2021. In those roles, he designed throwing programs for pitchers, with an emphasis on improving movement patterns and velocity and promoted arm health.
“Simon brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and a wide range of experience to our staff. He is grounded, has great perspective on pitching and connects incredibly well with players at all levels. He is widely respected throughout the game and the type of coach that makes everyone around him better. Simon is a tireless worker and is uniquely equipped to help our pitchers reach their full potential.”
— said Butera in a team press release today
In 2015, Mathews became a true D.C. local as he transferred to Georgetown University and graduated in 2017. He pitched for the Hoyas from 2015–17 after transferring from Temple University following their 2014 season. As a senior at Georgetown in 2017, he was a Friday night starter and set a school record with 85 strikeouts and finished his career in the top 10 in program history in wins (14), ERA (3.72) and strikeouts (186). Mathews graduated with a degree in political economy and minors in Spanish and Portuguese. Some trivia, he plays the African and Latin hand drums.
After graduating from Georgetown, Mathews signed with the Los Angeles Angels as a non-drafted free agent following the 2017 First-Year Player Draft and went on to pitch three seasons (2017–19) in their system. He appeared in 71 professional games, advancing as high as Triple-A Salt Lake in 2018 and 2019. His 2.93 ERA in Triple-A didn’t get him a promotion to the big leagues, even though he put up those marks in the high altitude of Salt Lake City.
Prior to college, Mathews grew up in West Haven, Connecticut and was a pitching star at the Hopkins School where he was the team captain and also played on the varsity soccer team. He pitched after high school for the Brockton Rox in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. In 11 regular season starts, covering 59 2/3 innings, Matthews went 7-0 with a 1.65 ERA and a 37-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He was named to the league’s All-Star game where he was named the Pitcher of the Game and finished the season tied for the league lead in wins and was third in ERA.
With Mathews in-place, the Nationals will add an assistant pitching coach, and many think that will go to Sean Doolittle who actually pitched in 45-games for the Cincinnati Reds in 2021 when Mathews was working in the Dominican Republic for the Reds. Do they know each other? We will see what happens there.
Russell Dorsey and Jake Mintz of Yahoo Sports reported the news prior to the Nats making their official announcement.
