Former Mets assistant Jeremy Barnes is one of three assistants joining the Washington Nationals coaching staff in 2026
With the calendar officially turned to 2026, the Washington Nationals reportedly added three new coaches on New Year's Day.
Jeremy Barnes joins to organization as the new director of defense, base running and gameplay in 2026. Barnes, who played college baseball at the University of Notre Dame, was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 11th round of the 2009 MLB Draft before playing in the minor leagues then Australia through 2015.
Barnes then retired and transitioned to a player development coach for the Canberra Cavalry in Australia before transitioning to the Houston Astros for four years, including two as a minor league hitting coordinator. Barnes then transitioned to the New York Mets where he first joined in a newly created role as director of player development initiative. Barnes was promoted to assistant hitting coach ahead of the 2022 season before being fired following the 2025 season alongside Eric Chavez.
Jeremy Sheetinger joins the organization after previously serving as the head coach at Georgia Gwinnett College where he coordinate the Nationals' minor league training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, while "assisting in improving defensive skills for players and teams throughout the organization," per release.
In six seasons as head coach, Sheetinger led the program to over 30 players signing professional contracts and a 279-52 record, including four 50-win seasons, five Continental Athletic Conference Conference championships and the 2021 NAIA national championship and five World Series appearances.
Sheetinger mentored NAIA National Players of the Year Ajay Sczepkowski (2023) and Blaze O'Saben (2024), 19 NAIA All-Americans, and more than 30 GGC players signed professional contracts. The program hosted four Opening Round tournaments of the NAIA national tournament, was routinely ranked among the NAIA's top 10 teams, and had teams and players that led the nation routinely in several offensive and pitching statistical categories. In fact, the 2025 team set NAIA records with 374 stolen bases (the most in a season among teams in all collegiate divisions) and 451 walks.
Ted Tom, meanwhile, joins the organization as the new manager of High-A Wilmington.
Tom joins the Nationals before ever coaching a game as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Memphis, while he spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant coach at UCF where he worked with the outfielders and baserunners while also assisting with recruiting and hitting.
While at UCF, Tom helped guide an offense to several program records including 109 home runs in 2023 - also shattering a four-year conference record in the process. The 2023 season also marked the second consecutive year that UCF produced three hitters batting over .319, tying the most in a single season over the previous decade.
Tom also helped six Knights earn All-Big 12 Conference postseason honors, which included outfielder Matt Prevesk, as well as Dominic Castellano receive ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I Southeast All-Region Second Team accolades. He helped four more Knights earn CSC Academic All-District accolades.
The trio of new additions become the latest pieces under manager Blake Butera's staff while the Washington Nationals released its 12-man coaching staff last month.