Coach 'Em Up

My personal list of the people who are screwing up the Nats goes something like this:

1. Preston "F****n" Wilson
2. Jim Bowden
3. Tom McGraw
4. Ron Darling
5. Cristian "Goooz" Guzman

But Preston's playing better, Bowden hasn't done anything stupid this week (as of 2 pm Monday), I think Ron Darling might be slow, and everyone else dumps on Guzman. So I'm left with Tom McGraw.

To be fair, I've never been sure exactly what a hitting coach does. Aside from the total train wrecks like Goooz, how exactly do you teach a professional baseball player to hit? A pitching coach can stroll out to the mound and have a conference with the pitcher. I've never seen a hitting coach jog over to the on-deck circle and have a heart-to-heart with a batter. I imagine that a hitting coach's in-game advice is probably limited to, "Go out there and put the g**d*** bat on the f****** ball or we're sending you to Poughkeepsie."

Nevertheless, it's not earth-shattering news that the Nats cannot hit with any consistency. They're last in the league in almost every offensive category. Last year they were last in the league in almost every offensive category. Between last year and this year the roster has changed, the stadium has changed and the front office has changed. What hasn't changed is the coaching staff.

I know McGraw is attached to Frank at the hip, and it would be almost impossible to get rid of him, but at some point doesn't he have to justify his salary by actually improving our hitters?