DENVER — Before almost every pitch against the Colorado Rockies on Monday night, Washington Nationals catcher Harry Ford crouched behind the plate and looked to his left. In an effort to find an edge, he waited for assistant pitching coach Sean Doolittle to look up from his sheet of paper, hold out his hand and relay a signal.Then Ford hit a button on his PitchCom, telling his pitcher to throw what that sheet in the dugout suggested he should.The Nationals started calling some pitches from the dugout earlier this month, becoming the latest MLB team among a small but growing cohort who are breaking from the sport’s tradition in search of an analytical advantage. That adoption, which had previously been unreported, seems consistent for a team that leans on data, employs a Gen Z roster and trusts a coaching staff stocked with millennials who care how fast their pitchers throw ball four.“It’s helpful,” Ford told The Athletic, hours after he caught the first scoreless effort by the Nationals bullpen since late June. “I also think it’s not that crazy.”The Nationals are in desperate need of an answer on the mound, as evidenced by Tuesday night’s 8-7 loss to the Rockies. That need has helped to push the Nats to join the Miami Marlins, who started to employ the tactic in the majors late last season, and the Rockies, who hired the Marlins’ assistant pitching coach this winter. The New York Mets, according to multiple league sources who were granted anonymity to speak candidly, have also called pitches from the dugout.“It’s just something I’ve always believed in,” first-year manager Blake Butera told The Athletic. “I compare it a little bit to an NFL quarterback. They’re not calling the plays from the start. They are given suggestions, and they can make adjustments at the line. Same thing we’re doing here.”