WASHINGTON -- Nationals reliever Zechry Zinicola is currently in the state of Arizona. It's one of his old stomping grounds because he went to Arizona State in Tempe.

But Zinicola, a California native, is not in the Valley of the Sun to visit teachers or old classmates. He is in the Arizona Fall League to develop a second pitch -- a slider -- and work on his mechanics. Zinicola is pitching in the late innings for the Peoria Saguaros and is off to a good start, giving up just two runs in 7 2/3 innings.

"I'm here to get some more innings under my belt," Zinicola said. "I have to work on some things that I was able to figure out at the end of the regular season. I was trying to find a good spot for my slider. Sometimes, I was throwing it too hard or too soft. I think I found a happy medium."

It also helped that Nationals pitching coach Randy St. Claire went to Arizona recently to see Zinicola and other Nationals prospects such as Ross Detwiler and Adam Carr. St. Claire spent four days working on the mechanics of each player.

"It was awesome for him to come out," Zinicola said. "It was actually the first time I talked to him about pitching and all with stuff I can focus on. He checked out all of us. I have to work on a couple of mechanical things -- staying on line, having a base and not overthrowing. It was good to be seen by the big dog and pick his brain a little bit."

Zinicola was drafted by Washington in the sixth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. At the time, the Nationals saw him as a future closer. Zinicola was so highly touted by the team that amateur scouting director Dana Brown recommended general manager Jim Bowden deal reliever Gary Majewski to the Reds as part of the eight-player trade that sent outfielder Austin Kearns, infielder Felipe Lopez and pitcher Ryan Wagner to the Nationals.

Brown believed that Zinicola would be in the big leagues by the 2007 season. It also helped that Zinicola had the stats to back up Brown's prediction. By the end of his first year in professional baseball, Zinicola was already at Double-A Harrisburg and gave up a combined three runs in 22 2/3 innings for Class A Vermont, Class A Potomac and Harrisburg.

"I thought it was really cool [to hear the praise]," Zinicola said. "You can't help but hear some stuff. It was cool to hear talks about getting to the big leagues. I just came out [of college]. I didn't know too much about pro ball and I just rode the wave."

But Zinicola would not reach the big leagues the next year because he didn't pitch well. He played the entire season with Harrisburg and had a 5.46 ERA in 42 games.

"I was trying to be too fine with my pitches," he said. "I was trying to strike out five guys on one pitch. I think I've learned to relax, take a step back and see the whole game."

Being relaxed seem to have worked for Zinicola for most of this past season. He gave up a combined six runs in 31 innings for Potomac and Harrisburg. However, by the time he arrived at Triple-A Columbus, Zinicola ran out of gas and was hit hard.

"I felt I made a lot of progress with all my pitches [and] fastball location," Zinicola said. "I got up to Triple-A, where I'd never been before. I did well, but I went through a rut for a week or two."

But the fact that he played for Columbus made Zinicola realize that he is one step closer to the big leagues.

"I would love to go to big league camp," Zinicola said. "That would be awesome, but I don't have any control over it. I just have to keep doing my thing and, hopefully, good things will come."