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After last night’s postgame roster move of releasing right-hander Lucas Sims, the Nationals have found a replacement in their bullpen.
Zach Brzykcy was recalled this afternoon from Triple-A Rochester for an extended stay in the Nats ‘pen after serving as the 27th man for Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Guardians.
“Great. Obviously, it's good to be back here. But yeah, I'm just trying to do my best to stay here,” the right-hander said in the Nats clubhouse four days after he left to go back to Triple-A. “I feel good. Knee's good, arm's good.”
Brzykcy, an undrafted signee out of Virginia Tech, missed all of the 2023 season after Tommy John surgery. But he bounced back to make his major league debut at the end of last year, proving himself to be a hidden gem in the Nats' farm system.
He entered this year as a candidate to make the bullpen on the Opening Day roster, but an ankle injury set him back. After finally making his season debut with the Red Wings, he pitched to a 2.35 ERA with 14 strikeouts, three walks and a .207 opponents’ batting average in eight appearances.
That made Brzykcy the Nats’ choice to call up for the twinbill. He gave up a double to José Ramírez and a home run to Austin Hedges to close out the nightcap, but ended his outing by striking out Austin Hedges.
“I was happy with it,” Brzykcy said of that ninth inning. “I threw one bad pitch, but otherwise, stuff was good. I'm happy with how I battled and finished that inning with a nice strikeout.”
Then he got the call again last night to make the drive from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to D.C., this time for an extended stay in the majors.
“He's been pitching better,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He endured a lot, as we know, and he worked his way back. Last time he was here, the ball was coming out pretty good. So we wanted to give him an opportunity to come up here and stay up here for a little bit and see what he can do.”
“I come up here with a lot more confidence,” said Brzykcy. “Like I said on Tuesday, kind of just know that I'm here for a reason, and I can use stuff and be confident in my stuff to do what I've done all year and my whole career, honestly.”
The Nationals don’t have a set role in mind for the 25-year-old just yet; Martinez will look for the right spots to get him settled back into a big league bullpen.
“He's still young, as we all know. He just got a cup of coffee up here, so he'll settle in,” the skipper said. “We'll try to pick some spots where we feel like he matches up well, and then we'll go from there.”
Brzykcy himself is just trying to build upon the progress he’s made to get back here.
“I think I just have a lot to take away from the outing on Tuesday and last year, and kind of build off what I've worked on this year in rehab and stuff. So I'm definitely happy to be here,” he said.
“Just consistency. I think my off-speed is a lot better than what it was last year. I had a whole offseason to work on it. But just consistency is what I need right now.”
* After originally scheduled to take the mound last night, Cade Cavalli will make his fourth rehab start this afternoon with Rochester. The Red Wings were rained out for the third time this week at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, pushing the right-hander’s start to the first game of today’s doubleheader.
Cavalli last started a game on April 29 and gave up three runs over two innings, leaving the game early due to fatigue. He skipped his next scheduled start and instead threw bullpen sessions.
The team found no reasons for injury concerns, so the 2020 first-round pick should be able to pick up where he left off and conclude his rehab from March 2023 Tommy John surgery as planned soon.
* In not-so-encouraging news, Jarlin Susana landed on Double-A Harrisburg’s seven-day injured list this afternoon. Martinez confirmed it was an arm injury, but the manager didn’t have specifics when he spoke earlier.
“I saw that and I thought, ‘Oh boy,’” Martinez said. “So I'll see what's going on.”
Susana only completed three innings in his last start on Sunday, but he threw 80 pitches (46 strikes). It was his shortest outing of the season but in line with his pitch counts in his other five starts.
