Behind the Lens with the Creator of the Emmy-Nominated "Start to Start" Series Presented by Inova

As the Washington Nationals unveiled the Next Gen Natitude brand campaign ahead of the 2025 season, the goal was to invite and inspire a new generation of fans to support the team’s young crop of talent now leading the way. While this initiative coincides with NATS20, the organization’s season-long celebration of two decades of Nationals baseball, shining a light on the District’s next wave of stars actually began last season with the launch of the “Start to Start” video series presented by Inova.

Published on the Nationals YouTube channel, the series takes fans on a behind-the-scenes journey to see how Nationals players prepare for individual games and handle the grind of a 162-game season. “Start to Start” was the brainchild of Nationals Senior Manager of Video Production Nathan Baker, who saw it as the perfect intersection of a few of the organization’s priorities.

“With a lot of new faces on the ball club, our production team for the last couple of years has been brainstorming content ideas that help our fans get to know these new young players,” said Baker. “We’ve also been trying to expand the kind of content we do to be a little bit longer-form storytelling.”

He added, “We were looking for stories happening on a day-to-day basis with the team that people didn’t hear about on sports talk radio or the broadcast. One of the places where that came up was with what our players do when the cameras aren’t on to make sure that they perform when they are on.”

Highlighting the physical demands and meticulous routines that the players experience throughout the season, the series also aligned well with one of the organization’s long-standing partners in Inova, the official hospital network of the Nationals.

“We are always looking for ways to tell stories that allow our fans to get to know our players and their personalities,” said Wendy Bailey, Nationals Executive Director of Content & Broadcasting. “We also look for ways to tie our partners to content that connects our brands. Inova is our hospital partner, so what better series for them to have their name associated with than one that showcases the physical and emotional work our players put in each and every day of a season.”

With a sponsor for the series secured, Baker’s next task was working on a much different type of partnership.

“We know that baseball players are creatures of habit who are dedicated to their routines, so we really wanted to partner with them to make sure that we honestly showed what their routine was without impacting it in any way,” he said.

Baker felt that he was able to accomplish this through groundwork that he and his team had been laying.

“Our production team is around the players so often that they see us on a regular basis, get to know us, work with us on maybe smaller pieces and know that we’re really trying to create content that will show them to our fans in the best light possible,” he said. “It starts with building that trust, awareness and relationship with them. After that, it’s about respecting their time and checking in with them about what they’re comfortable with.”

Two of the players featured in last season’s episodes were pitcher Mitchell Parker and outfielder Jacob Young, who had nothing but positive things to say about the experience.

“It was different,” said Parker. “I’m not much of a talker, so it was nice to get out of my little bubble and try something new.”

Both Parker and Young also appreciated how the series educated not only fans about their lives as Major Leaguers, but also family and friends.

“When you talk about sports, if it’s a 6:45 game, even your family thinks that you just show up at 6:00 and you play,” said Young. “I don’t think a lot of people realize how long we’re here and everything that we do to get ready for a game and long season. I was talking to my family and in-laws about how they loved watching it and actually getting to know what we do and how it all works.”

Parker added, “It’s a cool insight for everybody else to see what we go through in between starts and see that we’re not just randomly showing up on the field every fifth day.”

Along with giving family and friends a glimpse into their day-to-day lives at the ballpark, participating in the series also helped the players learn about themselves.

“I loved it,” said Parker. “Being able to see things that I didn’t realize I did was really cool.”

This self-reflection is made possible by Baker’s process.

“I think what is special about the series and Nate’s approach to producing, shooting and editing the content is that it is produced using the player’s own voice while following that player in real time over a handful of days,” said Bailey. “Other than sitting down for a 10-minute interview, the players featured keep their normal routines and allow Nate to follow along for a truly authentic look into a few days in the life of a Major League pitcher or starter.”

“I really try to let the story of each episode evolve while I’m shooting,” he said. “Baseball’s a very unpredictable sport, and you never know what exactly is going to happen. It’s embracing a sort of day-to-day evolution of the story and combining that with the player interviews where we focus on something that I noticed is unique to them. This was a creative stretch for me, but I think it’s what makes each individual episode of the series stand out.”

Stand out is exactly what the series did, as it recently earned a 2024 Capital Region Emmy Award nomination in the Sports Program — Post-Produced or Edited category. The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 21.

“It’s a huge honor for me to have my work be recognized among my peers in the area,” said Baker. “I’m also super grateful for Wendy and the way that she’s supported the pursuit of this project. She’s worked with me to make sure that I can dedicate the necessary time, while also managing all the other needs of the production team.”

He added, “Our production staff has also been crucial to the success of the project, both in support but also in picking up other projects that still need to be done while I’m dedicating multiple hours every day to the shooting and editing of this series. To have them pick up that extra work while I’m on a mission, I’m very appreciative.”

While Bailey and Baker had already decided to bring the series back for another season ahead of the Emmy nomination, the honor only validated their thoughts on how it engaged viewers.

“We’ve seen the series make new fans of these guys,” said Baker. “Seeing the players’ personalities and dedication to their craft in the way that we’ve packaged it to be easy to consume and match the flow of the season resonates with viewers. The feedback that we’ve gotten has been great and made us really excited to do another season.”

Episode 1 of the new season, which is available now on the Nationals YouTube channel, follows pitcher MacKenzie Gore from his April 24 start vs. Baltimore through his performance in Philadelphia on April 29, chronicling the disciplined approach behind one of baseball’s leading strikeout arms.

“My favorite part of this series is that as I’ve talked to these guys and seen their routines, I see more how their personalities and routines are similar,” said Baker. “Mitchell Parker, for example, is maybe not much of a talker and is more cerebral. You see that in his routine between starts and even how he approaches pitching. That’s something that I’ve really enjoyed and hope to lean into in season two.”

He added, “For this season, we really want to try to show off the way that our players interact with each other and hear a little bit more of the conversations because I think this team has a really cool energy,” said Baker. “They seem to be very invested in each other’s success, and I think that is built in those moments of batting practice, bus rides and travel trips in a way that our fans haven’t had a chance to see.”