The Nationals have fired pitching coach Derek Lilliquist, general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters after tonight’s game, including Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links). Taking over the post will be Paul Menhart.
Lilliquist has been in his role since last season, signing on with the Nats after he was dismissed by the Cardinals. He took over for Mike Maddux, who left the D.C. organization for the Cards. The irony of that swap is only furthered by tonight’s move, which occurred while Maddux dressed in the visitor’s clubhouse.
Clearly, the results have not been there this year for the Nationals, who improved this evening to 13-17. The bullpen has been a major culprit in the struggles, while the rotation has perhaps not been quite as sharp as might be hoped. Just what level of fault Lilliquist carries in that situation is all but impossible to assess from the outside, but the club obviously felt a change was in order.
Rizzo says that Menhart was chosen because he’s “hands-on” and “analytical” in his approach. Menhart has five years of experience running the organization’s pitching development efforts as the minor-league pitching coordinator.
Slightly too early in the season for that
Does Rizzo eventually run out of scapegoats, or is he allowed to continue the cycle with a new staff to blame?
He should get no more managers, if Dave Martinez is fired, Rizzo should be gone as well.
Why hasn’t this happened to Don Cooper? It’s so far overdue.
Because Jerry, Kenny, and Hawk would miss him at the Crisco party.
Kyle’s mom, Stoney would miss him too!!!!
Ha crisco party! Winning comment
Coaching isn’t my strongest topic in baseball discussions. That being said, I have seen several of the frequent White Sox fans leave pretty favorable comments about Cooper here. He seemed to make Shields serviceable last year to where he probably had a little value at the deadline. The White Sox have pretty much given him an AAA rotation to work with the last few years with a couple high end prospects. This year they gave him some good high leverage relievers but the same rotation with Banuelos taking Shields spot. He seems to have gotten Banuelos pitching pretty well so far and could have a hidden gem there. They should move Giolito to the bullpen and see if his stuff plays out better there. I know he was a former #1 overall prospect but he has been a flop in MLB and seems to be just another AAAA pitcher who should go to Japan and try to figure it out.
huh?
Good riddance ! Loser results wise and brought nothing ! Better get a better replacement not this guy. Rizzo is next if Nats don’t make playoffs as his trades and picks for bullpen are horrible too. I won’t be surprised if Mgr goes too – Mgmt clean out of no playoffs ! Let’s go Nats !
Not true. They won’t fire their manager unless they make the playoffs.
I think Fredi Gonzalez was fired around mid-season. He’s the only one my chemo brain can recall. Haha gotta laugh at right? no gloom and doom!
I don’t know if you can blame Rizzo for that bullpen. He has thrown a ton of money at it, traded for good (at the time) high leverage pitchers and has done his best with reclaims. Both him and Dombrowski seem to have some kind of bullpen curse. Herrera alone should prove that. Then add Treinen and Luzardo who they had to give up for Doolittle. Then Vazquez and Hearn (who was sent to Texas for Keone Kela) for Melancon. Imagine those players still with Washington on cheap contracts holding down the bullpen. I don’t think Rizzo would have signed Corbin and instead thrown a ton of money at the bullpen if he had Luzardo arriving soon. Heck, even when someone comes up through their system and shines like Storen they end up falling flat sooner or later. Factor in guys like Papelpon Kelley and Madson and you can’t say he hasn’t done everything he could to fix the problem. The baseball gods gave him a great talent for finding prospects and cursed him with the absolute worst bullpen luck.
Well of course blame the coach!
To be fair he’s a very average pitching coach and probably underneath the level the Nationals should employ. He showed nothing but ineptitude alongside Matheny with the Cards.
It’s nearly impossible to see the impact of a coach as a fan, but sure, he was inept.
That’s not true at all. lol. Have you ever heard Lilliquist share a pitching philosophy that made sense?
such a waste of a move. How much input do scherzer, Strasburg, & Patrick Corbin need from a coach? The 3 are making 100 mil this year. Anibal Sanchez had a fluke season in 2018 and now is pitching like Anibal Sanchez. They trade Tanner Roark to shed $, then sign Sanchez for about the same. The organization is a mess.
You’re forgetting about the bullpen.
The bullpen has been mostly been bad. Point is if your three horses, who are expected to throw 40% of your innings, can’t get it done, the rest doesn’t matter. They are pretty much half of the payroll.
That’s a bit harsh
Rizzo is the bigger problem.
He’s the scapegoat for the front office. Should’ve threw more money at the non-Rosenthal free agent relievers.
He deserved to be dismissed. He brought no value to the Nationals at all. Probably the same reason that St. Louis dismissed him. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.
Yes, that’s exactly why he was let go by the Cardinals. He refused to use analytics.
Rizzo is in over his head. The Mgr needs to go. Haven’t won anything since Dusty Baker was fired.
They underachieved with him too.
Love to see Nats fans upset. Hope it continues all year!
Great news. Now dump the hitting coach!!!!
The Dusty curse
this was done to send a message to the ball club, if they’re still putrid Rizzo and Martinez will follow Liliquist
The irony is also furthered by the fact Paul Menhart was born in St. Louis. *mic drop*
Well if Lilliquist can go, then the O’s Doug ‘Broccoli’ Brocail should be on his way out too!
How do you fire a pitching coach though after a well pitched game?
SMH
O’s are rebuilding and Brocail is Elias’s guy. As long as young pitchers get better, he’ll be there
I actually had the same thought. If you’ve made the decision to fire a coach, so be it, but what weird timing!
Ridiculous. Lilliquist started his season with a pitching staff featuring three starters who would be aces on almost any team in Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin. Lilliquist also has a bullpen featuring two outstanding relievers in Rosenthal (when healthy) and Doolittle. Brocail arrived to a rotation relying on a brittle Cobb, an unreliable Bundy and a hard-working but ineffective Cashner. Brocail’s bullpen also relies on a half dozen guys who probably belong in Norfolk instead of Baltimore. The two staffs are night and day and taking it out on Brocail makes no sense at all. The man has had less than 90 days to meet the staff and get to work with them. You can’t (yet) blame him for their suckitude.
Chris Young can go as well as Kapler and John Mallee too.
“Menhart has five years of experience running the organization’s pitching development efforts as the minor-league pitching coordinator.”
And who has he developed? They can’t even produce a quality reliever to help the parent club.
Top pitching picks have been Fedde, Romero, Dunning and Giolito. Two were traded away, one hasn’t pitched and Fedde has been given opportunities but hasn’t stuck.
You are leaving out Lopez and Luzardo. They have produced Treinen (Athletics) and Vazquez. They seem to use the draft for pitchers and international signings for position players. They have had several very good prospects that seemed to somehow get ranked very high. It’s a shame they didn’t do more with them. Imagine what they could have gotten for Giolito before he was exposed. Probably a lot more than just being an add on for Adam Eaton. The only reason Treinen isn’t closing for the Nats instead of the A’s is that Rizzo felt pressured to make a move for the bullpen.
Fans always want to “win now” but rarely accept the aftermath of previous “win now” moves.
The Nats bullpen would probably be better today if it still had Blake Treinan and Felipe (Rivero) Vazquez, but they “went for it.”
The guys horrible look at how he was with the Cardinals.
Just wait til Doolittle’s overdue arm implosion…gonna fire the bullpen coach and securiry guard after that…
The Nats needed a shutdown reliever in 2016 as they were going for a championship.
They traded Rivero and Hearn for Melancon.
It was a good trade for both teams.Himdsight is always 20 20.
I give the Nats credit for going for it.
Can you say the same thing now for the Pirates?They are in a perpetual state of mediocrity and will infrequently have the opportunity to go for it.
When a pitching coach is fired one month into the season, one has to wonder why the team hired him in the first place.
A good cook never blames his utensils.
Well brewers pitching and bullpen coaches may be available soon if other teams have a vacancy
Long time reader, first time poster. This should not be on Derek. It is way too early in the season for such a knee jerk reaction. Coach Lilliquist has a pedigree a mile long as a player and a Coach, so hearing some of the negative comments posted is disappointing. The guy was a monster as a Georgia Bull Dog, crushing home runs and pitching lights out. He deservedly became a first round pick as a result. He played in the majors for a lot of organizations and had a reputation as a great player, teammate and consummate professional. To me he always represented everything it means to be an authentic baseball guy, and led by example on how to go about one’s business. I may be partial since I had the privilege of playing for him for several years, but wanted to write a few words for anyone reading who doesn’t know anything about him, before they are swayed by those with an ax to grind. He would be an asset to any team and someone you’d want to run through a wall for as a player. In my case I purposely refused to wipe the blood of my busted nose after catching, or rather not catching a bad hop off one of his laser fungos. Yelling back to, “Hit it harder!”. That nod of approval was a badge of honor to me.
Lilliquist followed Dave Duncan in St. Louis. Having to follow the dean of all Pitching Coaches had to be tough on Lilliquist and fans and administration gave him the benefit of the doubt the first couple of seasons. However, Lilliquist was just pure de old Lazy. I was an everyday observer of him at Spring Training many years in a row serving a local radio station by getting interview with current players. Never did I see him show any respect for the Cardinal pitchers. Therefore, the Cardinal pitchers did not respect him. Mike Maddox has made a huge difference!!!