After earning his UVa degree in public policy and leadership in 2018, Doughty landed an internship at the commissioner’s office in New York. The contacts he made there helped him break in with the Nationals, who sent him to their Double-A affiliate in Harrisburg in a scouting and analytics role.
Big names such as Trevor Rosenthal, Michael A. Taylor and Ryan Zimmerman (a fellow UVa alum and Doughty’s favorite player as a kid) came through Harrisburg that summer on rehab assignments.
When the Nats won the World Series, they sent him a ring.
“That’s very nice, but I had completely minimal impact on that,” Doughty said with a laugh. “I got a ring, but I really think that was a nice gesture by the ownership for their first championship that they gave one to everybody in the organization. But at the same time, that’s what makes great organizations, is that they treat people on the lowest rung of the ladder with the same type of respect as the executives.”
Last year, Doughty was with the Phillies, using analytics to aid the team’s base running and catchers’ defense. Seeing his efforts quantified with results on the field fed his competitive nature.
“What I do now is not necessarily the same thing,” he said. “But I think you have to kind of have that killer instinct in the player-acquisition world, the scouting world, to try to uncover that next gem or find the next guy that’s going to help you win a title with your current organization.”
