Nats hire Hale as bench coach, Lilliquist as pitching coach

Nov 9, 2017 - 7:02 PM WASHINGTON (AP) — Former major league skipper Chip Hale will be the bench coach for new Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez, while Derek Lilliquist will be the team's pitching coach. The Nationals announced most of Martinez's staff on Thursday, a week after the first-time manager's introductory news conference. Also joining the team are first base coach Tim Bogar and assistant hitting coach Joe Dillon. The Nationals had previously announced Kevin Long will be the hitting coach. Third base coach Bobby Henley was retained. So far, he is the only member of former manager Dusty Baker's staff who is sticking around. Baker was dismissed last month after leading Washington to a pair of NL East titles in his two seasons. The team lost in an NL Division Series each time. Hale was Oakland's third base coach last season. Before that, he managed the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015 and 2016. Lilliquist was the St. Louis Cardinals' pitching coach for the past six seasons. He swaps spots with Mike Maddux, who had been Washington's pitching coach and was hired for that job by St. Louis. ___ More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball