Few fans are aware that the Cincinnati Reds recently lost another member of their coaching staff. Third base coach JR House departed for the Arizona Diamondbacks less than a month ago, and now Simon Matthews has been named the new pitching coach for the Washington Nationals.
Matthews was the Reds assistant pitching coach in 2025 after spending four seasons in Cincinnati's Minor League system. Matthews, a product of Driveline, is a very analytics-driven coach who's looking to follow in Caleb Cotham's shoes. Cotham joined the Philadelphia Phillies coaching staff in 2020 after working alongside Reds Director of Pitching Derek Johnson in 2019.