A Full Breakdown of the Washington Nationals prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League rosters have been released this week with a lot of intriguing prospects on each team. There are six teams full of prospects from Major League teams that will play starting October 6th. I’ll be writing an article and making Twitter posts about each team’s roster. This will cover the prospects on the Washington Nationals who will be on the Scottsdale Scorpions this fall. The team will consist of players from the Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, and the Detroit Tigers as well.

Washington Nationals:

Pablo Aldonis LHP: After missing the entire 2024 season and most of the 2023 Aldonis made a return this season pitching 55 total innings between the Complex League, Low-A, and High-A. He was amazing in those innings pitching to a 1.64 ERA and 1.83 FIP. Aldonis struck out 30.9% of hitters and walked only 4.8%. He is a strikeout and flyball pitcher. Before the injury Aldonis was working as a starter but only topped out at 3 innings towards the end of the season as he worked his way back. He features a fastball only in the low 90s but has a mid 80s slider with tight sweeping movement which is his best pitch. His slider is so good against both sides of the plate and he seems to be able to control both his pitches. He dealt with walks in the past with a 13.3% walk rate in 2023 but other than that season he’s been able to throw strikes well and avoid barrels. A very good prospect that will look to continue his stellar season this fall.

Austin Amaral RHP: Drafted in the 16th round out of Stetson in the 2023 draft Amaral had a solid first season in 2024 even though it was limited by injury as he only pitched 38 innings. In 2025 though he broke out pitching a total of 69.2 innings out of the bullpen to a 2.45 ERA. He started in Low-A but eventually was promoted to AA by the end of the season. In Low-A he was a high strikeout low walk pitched unlike 2024 but settled back into his usual stats in the higher leagues. By the end of the season combined between all three he struck out 21.5% and walked 7.6% to a 3.35 FIP. Amaral has a weird release where he puts the ball behind his back and pauses before throwing that gets a lot of hitters time off. He hasn’t had much public data even going back to his days at Stetson but from what I can find his fastball sat around 93 mph but got a 28% whiff rate due to his windup. He had a whole four pitch mix with a slider in the low 80s, a curveball in the mid 70s, and a changeup in the mid 80s. A fun pitcher to watch.

Jake Bennett LHP: The opening day starter for the AFL this year Bennett was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2022 draft and is coming off a great year. After missing most of his first season in 2023 and all of 2024 after having Tommy John surgery Bennett returned to the Nationals organization in early May making 2 starts in Low-A before being promoted for 7 starts in High-A and eventually pitching 45.2 innings in AA before the end of the season. In total he pitched 75.1 innings to a 2.27 ERA and 2.96 FIP. Bennett is a big lefty standing at 6’6” but doesn’t have the velocity most bigger pitchers have sitting in the low 90s but topping out at 97 mph with some tail like a two seamer. HIs changeup might be his best pitch with a ton of fade this and the fastball have big groundball rates on them which have led to his success. Bennett also has a mid 80s slider with good length and late break. Not the best stuff but he has above average command which has helped keep him out of danger. His walk rate this season was only 6.4% and his walk rate in the shortened 2023 was 6.2%. He looks like a big leaguer and pitches like one. 

Sean Paul Liñan RHP: Acquired at this year’s trade deadline from the Dodgers for Alex Call, Liñan only pitched in one game for the Nationals High-A team before being put on the injured list. He pitched all over for the Dodgers in 2025 starting in Low-A but making starts in High-A and AAA in the middle of the season. Other than his two AAA starts and his only Nationals one he dominated with a 1.21 ERA in 29.2 Low-A innings and a 2.65 ERA in High-A. Liñan has great strikeout stuff and has overpowered hitters striking out 33% of batters this season but walking 10.3%. If you’re watching Liñan it’s surprising he is that overpowering because his fastball only sits in the low 90s and mostly plays as a sinker but his changeup is the real deal. It sits in the low 80s with 15.” of fade it’s a crazy pitch to watch and has gotten high whiff rates at every level including his time in AAA. He also throws a pitch that’s been categorized as a slider by some and cutter by others but it sits in the mid 80s and is not a great pitch. His sinker/changeup mix gets great soft contact and whiffs but as he climbs to higher levels I’m not sure hitters will swing over the changeup as much as they’ll likely just be sitting sinkers. This is a big fall for him to prove he can get older hitters out. 

Jared Simpson LHP: Picked in the 8th round out of Iowa in the 2023 draft Simpson had barely pitched before this season with 11.1 innings after the draft and only 2 last season. This season he spent entirely in High-A throwing 52 innings to a 6.32 ERA and 4.95 FIP. He showed off the strikeout stuff he did in college with a 25.8% rate but also showed the struggle with command with a 23% walk rate all out of the bullpen. It seemed Simpson had a walk basically every time he came out of the bullpen and many outings with multiple ones this season. He stands at 6’4” and 205 lbs but I’m not sure what he throws as he hasn’t had any public data going back to his days at Iowa there wasn't even anything on his Synergy. I’m sure Simpson has some solid stuff but the command leaves a lot to be desired. 

Seaver King SS: One of my favorite picks from the 2024 draft King went with the 10th overall pick out of Wake Forest but has struggled badly in his first full season. After a solid 20 games in Low-A after the draft where King hit for a 122 wRC+ he started the season in High-A and played there for 45 games where he slashed .263/.307/.380 for a 104 wRC+. That’s an alright line but not what fans expected from King who was a standout in every way in his last season at Wake Forest. He was promoted to AA for the rest of the season and played even worse, slashing .233/.287/.313 for a 78 wRC+. He was expected to flash some average to plus power but that has yet to be seen in pro ball. King has made consistent contact but chases at an alarming rate which has led to a lot of weak ground balls. He also isn’t walking enough to survive at the plate with the power drop off only a 5.8% for the season. He has a compact swing that allows him to spray the ball over the field which he did this season but his 52.4% groundball rate is really holding him back. In the field King is super athletic and has plus arm strength. At Wake Forest he played all over the field but the Nationals have limited him to just shortstop so far through pro ball. His plus speed does give him some upside to the season stealing 30 bases but he’s going to have to get going in the AFL.

Sam Petersen CF: Drafted out of Iowa in the 8th round of last year’s draft Petersen has already proven a lot in the lower minor leagues in his first full season. Petersen got a late start to the season after an unknown injury took him out until May where he played a few rehab games and was in the High-A lineup for the season until another injury took him out in mid August. He ended up playing 44 High-A games and slashed .297/.398/.490 for a 161 wRC+. He posted a solid walk rate at 11.6% and cut down on his strikeouts to 18%. Petersen doesn’t make a ton of contact, only a 71.2% rate in High-A which has mostly been due to a struggle for contact in the zone on fastballs. He tends to pull a lot of balls and actually showed off some good pull side power with 6 homers and 6 doubles this season. He also showed off some of his speed with 18 steals. Petersen has mainly played centerfield in the pros but has spent time in left and right as well. He doesn't have a great arm so I could see him moving to leftfield in the future but for now using his speed to cover ground in center works well. If he can continue to hit well in the fall league against more experienced pitching then he will show that his contact concerns are as big as they seem. 

Ethan Petry OF/1B: He was the Nationals 2nd round pick just this season out of South Carolina Petry had three amazing years at SC and showed off his enormous power. I’m guessing the Nationals want him to get some more at bats due to his season at SC getting shortened thanks to a shoulder injury but he did end up playing 24 games in Low-A for the Nationals before the end of the season where he just kept going hitting 287/.386/.414 for a 137 wRC+. Standing at 6’4” 235 lbs Petry had some of the best power in the draft with 2 straight seasons of more than 20 homers before only hitting 10 due to the shoulder injury. Like most sluggers he has struggled with strikeouts and contact. Even though his strikeout rate did drop to 17.4% in his last season at SC it was back up to his career norm at 24.8% in Low-A. He really struggles to not chase outside the zone when he’s in swing mode but he will take walks usually sitting around a 13% walk rate throughout college and a 12.9% in Low-A. In the field Petry is really slow and doesn’t have a ton of range in the outfield. He played some first while at SC and played 4 games there in Low-A with the rest of the time at DH or left. With the type of power he has Petry is a super exciting player to watch and could hit some long balls this fall.

Thank you for reading for shorter breakdowns check out my Twitter @drew-durstock. Each day I'll release a new team's prospect breakdown.