Blake

Butera

The Nationals hired the youngest manager in 53 years when they picked 33-year-old Blake Butera to man the helm. Now they’ll have a 31-year-old coaching first base. Ray, the fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft, got one at-bat with the Brewers in 2021 and retired at 27 after the 2022 season. He’s joining the Nationals after managing for the Cubs in the ACL the last two years.

Butera becomes the eighth manager in team history. The 33-year-old becomes the youngest skipper in Major League Baseball since 1972 when Frank Quilici helmed the Twins. Butera had been serving as the senior player development director for the Rays after managing in the minor leagues for four seasons. He will certainly have his hands full trying to turn around a squad that just finished a woeful 66-96 and landed in the cellar in the National League East.

Butera was serving as the senior player development director for the Rays, though he previously spent four seasons managing in the minors. Before that, he was the Rays’ 35th-round pick out of Boston College in 2015 and spent two years in the system as an infielder before giving up on that idea. He’ll be the youngest manager in baseball since the Twins went with Frank Quilici in 1972.