AFL/Offseason Update: Nov. 7, 2025
Scottsdale put up crooked numbers in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th and cruised to a 7-3 win over Mesa.
The usual suspects were in the starting lineup…
… Seaver King started at shortstop and batted cleanup. He singled in the 5th and then stole second, scoring on a groundout. The next inning, the 22-y.o. walked, took second on single, and stole third (pictured) and scored an error.
…Ethan Petry was in the #7 slot and went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts. Defensively, he had no putouts and fielded five hits to right field (where he played, too!)
…Sam Petersen was #9 in the lineup and played left field. He doubled for the fifth time this fall and scored (pictured) on a triple by Kevin McGonigle. The Iowa native hit a sac fly in the 5th and snagged one flyball on defense.
The Scorpions (18-7) head to Glendale this afternoon to play the Desert Dogs (9-15) to close out the week.
Yesterday, the AFL announced the rosters for Sunday’s Fall Stars game, which will be broadcast on MLB Network at 8pm. Seaver King and Jake Bennett were named to the team. Ethan Petry will take part in tomorrow’s HR Derby.
As noted in the comments, the Nats cleared space on the 40-man roster by waiving RHPs Ryan Loutos and Zach Brzykcy and UT Trey Lipscomb. Loutos (Seattle) and Brzykcy (Miami) were claimed while Lipscomb was outrighted to Rochester.
too bad on Brzykcy, everything before TJ was promising, would have liked to give him one more chance.
Feel like the Nats abused Brzkcy, even though he was coming off an injury in 2025.
When the bullpen was taxed (which happened a lot), the Nats would leave in Brzykcy to just get hammered; he had a few horrible outings which made his 2025 season look worse than it was. Nats treated Zach different than the other young relievers (particularly Cole Henry).
The best example was Brzkcy’s last outing as Nat against Milwaukee on August 3rd. He had a good outing on August 1 (one perfect inning with a K) in the first game of the series against the Brewers. Then, for the last game of the MLW series, Cairo brought in Zach when the Nats were already down 5-1 in the 7th.
Brzkcy clearly didn’t have his stuff, but Cairo and Hickey just let Brzkcy wear it, and he gave up six runs while on getting one out. When a reliever only pitches a few innings and has an outing like that, his numbers get skewed negatively.
Zach appeared in 26 games and gave up no runs in 17 of those appearances, including a stretch in June when he didn’t give up a run in seven straight appearances. Wouldn’t be shocked if he turns out to be a decent bullpen piece in 2026.
I’ve said elsewhere that Brzykcy was one I had some hope that a new staff could help. And yes, how he was used in 2025 was terribly regrettable. That said, I understand why they need to clear roster spots, and also why they thought there was a good chance to sneak him through unclaimed.