Ryan Brinley Bolsters Repertoire

WASHINGTON—In the Arizona Fall League, righthanded reliever Ryan Brinley took advantage of his second chance this year to face upper-level minor league batters.

The 23-year-old struggled in his five-week stint at Double-A Harrisburg beginning in late June, but he showed a better repertoire with Glendale.

That repertoire starts with a changeup that managers chose as the best in the high Class A Carolina League. Brinley, a 27th-round pick in 2015 from Sam Houston State, flashed an improved slider and touched 95 mph this fall, which helped earn him a spot in the AFL Fall Stars Game.

“I had the good fortune to have him on our team very briefly when he got drafted,” said low Class A Hagerstown pitching coach Sam Narron, who also is one of Glendale’s pitching coaches. “He was a position player and pitcher who was becoming solely a pitcher, but he really took well to it. He never threw much of a breaking ball in college, but he has done a great job with it.”

Brinley played in the infield and closed in college, then played for three clubs in his draft year, highlighted by a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings at Hagerstown. He recorded 16 saves this year at high Class A Potomac, good for third in the Carolina League.

At two stops and 40 appearances this year Brinley recorded a 3.55 ERA in 50.2 innings. He struck out 6.8 and walked 1.6 per nine innings.

Narron says Brinley shows “fearlessness” on the mound. He struck out eight and walked one through his first 10 innings against better hitters in the AFL.

“He gets ahead of hitters with his solid-average to plus fastball,” farm director Mark Scialabba said, “and his changeup is a weapon against both right- and lefthanded hitters. He continues to improve the feel and command for his breaking ball.”

CAPITAL GAINS

• Third baseman Drew Ward represented the Nationals in the AFL’s Fall Stars Game. He went 23-for-73 (.327) with six doubles through 19 games.

• The city of Auburn, N.Y., has put the short-season Doubledays up for sale but hopes to keep the New York-Penn League franchise in place. The Nationals have been affiliated with Auburn since 2011 and have a player-development contract with the team through 2018.