The Nationals’ front office continues with aggressive coaching hires, and they made another bold move on Friday by bringing in Andrew Aydt as their new assistant hitting coach. Aydt becomes the second addition to the staff from Driveline Baseball this offseason and carries on a clear trend under president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and manager Blake Butera: youth, analytics and innovation.
The hire stands out for a few reasons. Aydt is not even 30 years old and has never worked for a professional organization. However, he draws experience from his time since 2018 at Driveline, rising from intern to assistant director of hitting and becoming a respected voice in swing development circles.
In that capacity, he worked directly with top MLB hitters such as Ivan Herrera, Paul Goldschmidt and Corbin Carroll. Aydt helped them refine attack angles, improve bat speed and make gains in hard hit rate, swing speed and exit velocity through advanced biomechanics and data-driven training.
This marks the second Driveline-to-D.C. pipeline move of the winter, following the Nationals’ hire of Simon Matthews as pitching coach. Matthews, who is only 30, spent time at Driveline earlier in his career and brings a similar analytical background to the staff.
Both he and Aydt come from that development-heavy environment and represent the type of young voices Washington is prioritizing as it reshapes its coaching group. With Matthews already rising from Driveline to an assistant pitching coach role with the Reds to now leading a pitching staff, Aydt may follow a similar path and grow into a lead hitting coach sooner rather than later.
Aydt starred as a first baseman at Division II McKendree University. While he lacks prior MLB or affiliated coaching experience, he does bring a strong track record with big league hitters. He broke down his process in a video explaining how he worked with Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera, who improved to hit 19 home runs with an .837 OPS last season. The walkthrough offers a window into the type of hitter development the Nationals hope to see across their young roster.
How did Iván Herrera take the leap form being a good big league hitter to one of the best in the show? 🤔@AndrewAydt breaks down why bat speed was the common denominator — and how his EV and hard-hit rate profited as a result. pic.twitter.com/Cr6qA9a32q
— Driveline Baseball (@DrivelineBB) November 11, 2025
The Nationals haven’t yet hired a lead hitting coach after parting ways with Darnell Coles. This situation of hiring an assistant before the main makes Aydt’s addition even more interesting. According to reports, Washington has made an offer to Matt Borgschulte, the former hitting coach for the Orioles and Twins.
Toboni has made it clear that his goal is to build a “scouting and player development monster,” and hires like Aydt fit that vision. Aydt may lack professional experience on paper, but he has worked with elite players, built a strong reputation inside one of the most advanced hitting labs in baseball and now brings that expertise to a team trying to rebuild its foundation.
Aydt’s skillset also fits neatly with the Nationals’ player development needs. Several of the organization’s talented young hitters, including James Wood, CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile and more, could benefit from a more tailored and data-informed approach. Driveline is widely viewed as the gold standard for performance training, and the Nationals can tap into that expertise as they work to modernize their development structure.
This shift under Paul Toboni and Blake Butera has already drawn attention across the league. At 35 and 33 years old respectively, they now lead one of the youngest and most forward-thinking staffs in the sport. The Nationals, previously viewed as behind the curve during the later years of the Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez era, are now moving quickly to catch up and even push ahead of the curve. The Nats’ coaching and front office additions continue a clear pattern of Washington targeting young and analytically-minded voices as part of a full youth movement across the organization.
There is risk in all of this. The Nationals are putting a lot of trust in young coaches still early in their careers, and it may take time before the results show up on the field. But if these hires hit, they could give Washington the kind of competitive advantages that more traditional staffs struggle to match. Aydt represents another example of a front office willing to bet on upside.
The Nationals haven’t posted a winning season since 2019 and there is still plenty of work to do. But with each of these hires, the direction grows clearer. The organization is leaning into a new identity and Aydt fits right into it. Washington is trying to build something different, and if the pieces fall into place this could grow into a youth-fueled, analytically minded dynasty with a real chance to turn them from bottom feeders into long-term contenders. Whether this rebuild pays off remains to be seen, but it reflects intention, and feels more exciting than ever to monitor.