Former journeyman outfielder Eric Young Jr. will be the Washington Nationals’ new first base coach, according to multiple reports.
The club hasn’t officially announced Young as its new first base coach.
The news was broken by Young’s father, Atlanta Braves’ first base coach Eric Young Sr., who told Jose de Jesus Ortiz of OurEsquina.com before Game 1 of the World Series.
Young, 36, will replace Randy Knorr, who earlier this month was reassigned alongside third base coach Bob Henley to player development roles in the organization.
The Nationals haven’t announced their replacement for Henley yet either.
The 2021 campaign was Young’s first as a retired player, spending the season as a coach for the Seattle Mariners’ Triple-A team in Tacoma. The upcoming season will be his first as a coach in the big leagues.
Young played in the majors for 10 seasons with five different teams. After being drafted in the 30th round by Colorado in 2003, the speedy outfielder made his major league debut in 2009 with the Rockies.
He played in Colorado for five years before stints with the Mets, Braves, Yankees and Angels.
He hit .245 and stole 162 bases in his 645 career games. His best season — and his only as an everyday player — came in 2013. Splitting time between the Rockies and the Mets, Young led the National League in stolen bases with 46. He’s 30th all-time in stolen base percentage at 80.6% (minimum 200 attempts).
Young joins hitting coach Darnell Coles as the team’s new coaching hires. Coles was hired last week to replace Kevin Long, who jettisoned to Philadelphia after spending the previous four seasons with the Nationals.
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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