(Brick Reference):
Zach Brixey didn’t get as much attention as the other September promotions added to the Washington Nationals roster on Sunday, but his promotion to the majors is just as good a story as Darren Baker’s.With his father, a future Hall of Famer World Series A moment no one will ever let Darren forget.).
Briczy, 25, signed as an undrafted free agent. Virginia Tech He made his debut in 2020 and had a breakout year in 2022, but injured his elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery in early 2023.
However, as the Nationals stated in a press release about his promotion, the right-hander returned to the mound this season and “posted a 2.04 ERA in 30 games (two starts) with 43 strikeouts in 35.1 innings across four minor league divisions in his first season back after surgery in April 2023.”
The relief pitcher was performing well before he was called up.
“In his final seven games before Sunday, Buziksy had a 1.13 ERA (one run allowed in 8.0 innings) with a .115 batting average (three hits for 26 at-bats) while striking out seven and walking just one.”
“[Brzykcy] “He’s worked his way back up, he’s doing well and pitched well in Triple-A,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said Sunday morning. “It’s been great to see him pitch. He’s one of those guys that I really believe will play a big role in the future of our bullpen. So he’s going to get an opportunity to pitch here for this final month, so we’ll see how he does.”
Bricuzzi told reporters at Nationals Park he was lost for words when asked how he reacted when he heard the news he would be vaccinated.
“I’m speechless,” he said. “I’m a fairly quiet person, so I didn’t even know what to think. I internalized it and was just shocked.”
“I’ve been working to get here since I was 4 years old, and now I’m here.”
He said it means even more to him after a long road to recovery from Tommy John surgery and elbow surgery.
“It’s certainly much more meaningful,” Brixey explained.
“I’ve come to appreciate the value of being healthy and the value of baseball on a level I never knew before.”
“Words cannot express this feeling,” he added.
His manager provided a brief scouting report.
“He’s a fastball thrower, an elevated fastball thrower,” Martinez said. “He’s got life in his fastball, but he’s also got a really good changeup, he’s got a really good curveball.”
Before Baker got his first chance in the majors and hit the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth, Brixey took the mound in his first career appearance with his team leading 7-1 in the top of the ninth. Chicago Cubs‘ I had good intentions, but it didn’t work out.
He started 1-0 after a pitch-timer violation, allowed a leadoff single on a 1-1 changeup low in the zone, then allowed a double one out later, walked two batters with two outs to add a run to the lead at 8-1, then gave up a two-run single in his next at-bat to make it 10-1. That marked the end of Buziksy’s time on the mound, and he was replaced.
Brixey threw 26 pitches, 13 of which were strikes, averaging a fastball at 94.2 mph. He used his fastball 77% of the time, with 20 four-seam fastballs (topping out at 95.5 mph), 5 changeups (19%), and 1 curveball (4%). He struck out 2 of his fastballs, struck out 5 of his fastballs, struck out 2 of his fastballs, and averaged 4 of his 5 fastballs.
“[Brzykcy] “As we all know, it was his first game,” Martinez said after the 14-1 loss to the Cubs.
“He was a little nervous but it’s good that he’s out of it and we’ll see a different player on Tuesday.”
