Seaver King is shining bright in the Scottsdale desert, and LHP Jake Bennett is showcasing his talents!
The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays will be facing each other in the 2025 World Series to begin on Friday. The only pro baseball to watch in the USA for the remainder of the week is in the Arizona Fall League. Yes, the World Series begins in Toronto, Ontario in Canada and doesn’t come stateside until Monday.
While Eduard Bazardo and his manager Dan Wilson are the reality of failing at the highest level as their Mariners fell last night, these minor leaguers are all here in the Arizona Fall League for their chance just to make an MLB debut and stay. As they say, getting to ‘the show’ is hard, staying is harder. Every position player in the AFL wants that George Springer moment; the relievers want that Jeff Hoffman save, and they all want that champagne celebration.
The Washington Nationals 8-player roster in the AFL is part of the 2025 Scottsdale Scorpions with the Tigers, Astros, Mets, and Giants all on the Scorpions, that roster looks to be loaded with talent that includes the №2 prospect in baseball, Kevin McGonigle, from the Tigers farm system.
Here are the players the Nats have on the Scottsdale team: Pablo Aldonis LHP, Austin Amaral RHP, Jake Bennett LHP, Sean Paul Liñan RHP, Jared Simpson LHP, Seaver King INF, Sam Petersen OF, and Ethan Petry OF/1B.
The Nats’ player rankings per MLB Pipeline on the Top-30 prospects are:
№7 Seaver King
№8 Ethan Petry
№11 Jake Bennett
№15 Sean Paul Liñan
№25 Sam Petersen
King, the 10th overall pick from the 2024 draft, is taking full advantage and his carpe diem. He arrived in Arizona from the pitcher-friendly Wilmington and Harrisburg home stadiums to the hitter-friendly Arizona desert. This has turned into exactly what he needed to get some confidence moving forward like his Wake Forest teammate, Nick Kurtz, got last year in the AFL.
For Petry, he was the Nats second round pick from the University of South Carolina in July, and he got the rare opportunity as a current year draftee to get picked and head right to the Arizona Fall League less than three months after signing his contract. He was the 2023 Cape Cod League MVP. Petry finished his season at Single-A Fredericksburg and immediately got a taste of the Carolina League postseason.
Also from the Nats prospect list is Bennett who is still building up innings after missing the 2024 season due to his UCL tear in his pitching elbow and subsequently needing Tommy John surgery. Bennett is currently finishing his season at Double-At Harrisburg. On Bennett’s rehab starts, he posted a 1.50 ERA at Fredericksburg, a 1.90 ERA at Wilmington, and currently has a 2.88 ERA at Harrisburg.
As you might recall, Liñan was one of the Nats trade acquisitions at the July 31 deadline. The Nats acquired him in the Alex Call trade along with Eriq Swan coming from the Dodgers. Liñan finished his season at High-A Wilmington.
The other Top-30 ranked player on the AFL roster from the Nats is Petersen who had been injured to finish his season early. He was having an encouraging year at High-A Wilmington and probably would have been promoted to Double-A if he was not injured. The Nats believe he will be ready to go to start the AFL season. Petersen batted .297 and found his power stroke and hit six homers to lead to an .887 OPS. Petersen has been comped as the next Jacob Young due to his defense, speed, and ability to wreak havoc on the bases. He went 18-for-18 in stolen bases at Wilmington this season.
The AFL season began on Oct. 6 and lasts until Nov. 15 to give baseball more to watch, and a full two weeks beyond the World Series.
Here are the six team configurations:
- Glendale Desert Dogs: Braves, White Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals, Blue Jays
- Mesa Solar Sox: Athletics, Cubs, Marlins, Yankees, Rays
- Peoria Javelinas: Orioles, Reds, Twins, Padres, Mariners
- Salt River Rafters: Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Rockies, Angels, Pirates
- Scottsdale Scorpions: Tigers, Astros, Mets, Giants,Nationals
- Surprise Saguaros: Guardians, Royals, Brewers, Phillies, Rangers
Beyond the traditional six stadiums in Scottsdale, Surprise, Glendale, Salt River, Peoria and Mesa, the AFL used Goodyear last week at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson for a triple header.
The MLB Pipeline Top-100 prospects are as follows:
2. Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers (Scottsdale)
4. Sebastian Walcott, SS, Rangers (Surprise)
12. Josue De Paula, OF, Dodgers (Glendale)
32. Braden Montgomery, OF, White Sox (Glendale)
47. Aidan Miller, SS, Phillies (Surprise)
48. Blake Mitchell, C, Royals (Surprise)
54. Chase DeLauter, OF, Guardians (Surprise)
58. Charlie Condon, 1B/OF, Rockies (Salt River)
71. Alfredo Duno, C, Reds (Peoria)
79. Jonny Farmelo, OF, Mariners (Peoria)
82. Ethan Salas, C, Padres (Peoria)
88. Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox (Glendale)
95. Cam Collier, 1B/3B, Reds (Peoria)
The All-Star game is on November 9 this year known as the Fall Stars Game. The AFL playoffs begin on November 13 with a new format this year with the championship on Nov. 15 at Salt River Fields. The Fall Stars Game and championship game will be televised by MLB Network and can be streamed on MLB.com.
This year, all six teams make the playoffs with the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds and the No. 4 and 5 seeds playing that day at Scottsdale Stadium. The winners will then advance to face the top seeds the next day at Salt River Fields. The league will conclude on Saturday Nov. 15 with the AFL Championship game.
So far so good for King. He is batting .419 with a 1.260 OPS. Both marks rank him 5th in the AFL. He is ranked 2nd with 15 RBIs and first with 12 runs scored. Petersen is up there in the rankings too, with a .944 OPS. On the pitching side, Liñan is 12th in ERA at 1.80. Bennett had one blowup appearance in his three games to put him at a 6.55 ERA.
As the AFL opened, King went off in a 3-5 game with a home run, and was asked how the AFL compares to his time in the Nats minor league system. This is what he had to day:
“I was trying to figure out the swing and everything else, 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 — and you know, it worked.”
— King said after that game
Sometimes the AFL is just what a player needs. Especially for position players from the east who have never experienced the hitter-friendly Arizona air. While Petry hasn’t found his Cape Cod swing, we hope he does.
There are times that the AFL gives hope to a player who can’t replicate that success the following season and beyond. For King, this is a start and a new beginning. This is what Trea Turner went through when he was in the Padres system. One tweak, one adjustment, is sometimes what takes a top prospect from struggling to excelling. He was batting just .228 in Eugene in A-ball and went to the AFL and hit .400 with an .817 OPS then was traded to the Nats.
While we don’t expect King to be traded, Turner was scouted by the Nats in that 2014 AFL. He was traded the following month as the PTBNL player who changed the baseball rules as well as the Nats’ future.
Who will change the Nats’future from this AFL?
