AFL Update: Oct. 24, 2025
Highlighted by a six-run 2nd and four-run 7th, the Scorpions stopped a two-game slide with a 12-3 win over the Javelinas.
Two relievers and three position players were in the Scottsdale lineup:
- Seaver King played short and batted second, going 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout at the plate and a putout on defense.
- Ethan Petry was the No. 7 batter abd reached base three times on a single, walk, and a Robles. He fielded three hits and snagged a flyball in right field.
- Sam Petersen rounded out the Scorpions lineup but went deep for the first time with two-run shot in the 2nd and added an RBI single in 4th before striking out twice (nos. 12 & 13 in 9G). He played left field but had no balls hit his way.
- Pablo Aldonis turned in two scoreless innings as the first man out of the Scottsdale ‘pen, walking two but strking out three.
- Austin Amaral gave up a run on two walks and a two-out single in his single inning pitched. He striuck out none.
The Scorpions (9-5) visit the Rafters (8-6) at Salt River Fields this afternoon for their fifth straight road game.
As noted in the comments, every Fall there seems to be a breakout hitter that in these desperate times we often put way too much emphasis on. The sample sizes are small and statistically insignificant. The pitchers are Rule 5 candidates and/or guys that were hurt. The stadiums are hitter-friendly.
Still, even with all those caveats, it’s worth passing along what Keith Law saw in Arizona about Seaver King and Sam Petersen. Plus, there’s this juicy tidbit:
King’s 2025 regular season was derailed in spring training by a specific Nationals coach encouraging him to change his swing to pull the ball in the air more. The results speak for themselves: he started in a huge funk, with a .222/.283/.333 line and 27.6 percent strikeout rate on May 15, then hit well for two weeks before a promotion to Double-A.
[Pause while Will sweeps up the morning beverage container he just threw]
I can understand the TalkNats‘ speculation that said coach—who, according to Law, is still employed by Washington—may get sent packing by next spring as part of the current overhaul by new president Paul Toboni. But let’s not forget that this is one player of dozens.
Still, it does fit the pattern of players leaving Washington and improving (too many to list)…
I’m sorry to be dense, but would someone remind what a “Robles” is? Thanks
Hawk Harrelson on WGN White Sox calls had a saying
A duck snort .
HBP
Thanks – certainly makes sense.
Luke , I should send you a better Boston Terrier picture of my guy
.
Could Law be referring to Jeff Livesay on the subject of unfortunate coaching advice ??
Again I am speaking into the ether
Raise the Nats vibes by bringing in the louche of the Leiper ( Tim ).
Hahahaha, I had seen references to King tweaking his swing and scouts being VERY unimpressed. I hadn’t realized it was at the urging of a coach!
Did everyone else see the interview of King a couple weeks ago, where King let drop how the advice of his teammate, uberprospect Kevin McGonigle, unlocked something in King’s head? https://www.mlb.com/news/nationals-prospect-seaver-king-looking-for-consistency-in-arizona-fall-league
““I was trying to figure out the swing and everything else,” King said of his time with Wilmington and Harrisburg, “but at the end of the day, like Kevin McGonigle told me: ‘It’s never the swing. It’s always pitches and timing and all those things.’ So he kind of simplified it for me today and you know, it worked.””
Is this, coupled with it being Nats coaches who put King into this over-thinking spiral, some of the most damning evidence of the failures of Nats Player Development?
How is it that over the course of 6 months, our coaches tinker and tweak King into having a disastrous season, and some very basic advice comes across as some revolutionary idea?
It’s one thing to just utterly fail to fix and improve players, like Elijah Green, Brenner Cox and everyone else in Frederickburg, skills, like hitting fundamentals. It’s a whole ‘nother thing to actively break players…
Really, really looking forward to Toboni’s new vision.
I will point out that King’s offensive surge began in September, before his conversation with McGonicle. The swing thing is more damning b
Also, per Law, the other name-checked contributor to King’s recent success is Harrisburg and Scottsdale hitting coach Jeff Livesey.
Which isn’t to say the earlier swing breaking isn’t a damning datapoint, and I do wish we knew that coach’s name. It’s just that, as always, we need to be careful about painting with too broad a brush.