Blake Butera Hires Bench Coach as Nationals Start Putting Their Staff Together

The Washington Nationals have made their first coaching staff hire.

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The Washington Nationals shocked a lot of people when they hired 33-year-old Blake Butera to become the next manager of this franchise.

Not only had he never played past the Single-A level during his career, but he also has never spent time in a major league clubhouse as a coach and only has managerial experience in Single-A. Because of that, it was clear the Nationals would need to put together an incredible staff around him.

Well, the first domino has fallen. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Washington has hired Tampa Bay Rays first-base coach Michael Johns to become the bench coach under Butera.

Michael Johns, the Rays’ first-base coach the past two seasons, will be the bench coach for new Nationals manager Blake Butera, sources tell @TheAthletic. Johns managed the Rays’ Triple A club in 2023 and five other affiliates over eight seasons.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 10, 2025

As pointed out by Rosenthal, the Nationals are adding some experience to this staff. Johns managed the Rays' Triple-A affiliate in 2023 before becoming their big league first-base coach the past two years. He also has been the manager of five other affiliates across eight seasons.

Bringing on an experienced bench coach is something everyone suggested Washington should do. Names like David Ross and other previous skippers were thrown out there. While Johns doesn't necessarily fit that mold, he does have key experience as a manager and has familiarity with Butera from their time in Tampa Bay together.

According to Andrew Golden of The Washington Post (subscription required), Butera and Johns overlapped working together when Johns was a minor league field coordinator for the Rays from 2018-2022 and Butera was a minor league manager for them during that time.

What's Next for Nationals in Their Coaching Search?

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It was previously reported that the past coaching staff was informed they would not be returning unless the new manager wanted to have them as part of his own staff. According to Golden, only assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson and pitching strategist Sean Doolittle are under consideration, although what jobs they would have isn't clear at this time.

President of baseball operations Paul Toboni stated he and Butera are going to build this coaching staff together. So it's clear he had some impact in the decision making process that has brought Johns on board.

As for who else Washington might hire, that's not exactly clear as they look to find a first-base and third-base coach, a hitting coach or hitting coaches and pitching coaches who will be important for the future of this franchise going forward.

Getting the bench coach situated is the first step, and it's an exciting one as Butera and the Nationals start getting things ready for a highly-anticipated 2026 season.