This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The package, for a young Zach Brzykcy, arrived on Christmas Day without a return address. Brzykcy knew mail was not scheduled for the holiday, but when he went outside that day 13 years ago, there was a yellow envelope waiting for him. 

“I was like, ‘Who gave me this?’” Brzykcy, now 23, recalled. “I thought it was my family in Buffalo. I reached out and asked if it was a Secret Santa gift. They said, ‘No, it wasn’t from us.’ I still have no idea. True story. I don’t know where it came from.”

Inside that envelope was a gift that would become one of Brzykcy’s most prized possessions, his must-have wherever he goes and a driving force in his pursuit of the big leagues: a No. 5 necklace.

“It just reminds me to not stop until I make it,” said the right-hander, who was wearing the jewelry while doing this interview in front of his locker in the Nationals' Spring Training clubhouse.

Growing up, Brzykcy was motivated by the professional baseball career of his grandfather, Gerald Brzykcy. Born in 1931, Gerald played under the name Jerry Brooks and wore No. 5 as a member of the ‘51 Lockport Locks (Class C, Middle Atlantic League), ‘52 Olean Yankees (Yankees’ Class D affiliate, Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League), ‘53 Trois-Rivieres Yankees (Class C, Provincial League) and ‘54 Norfolk Tars (Yankees’ Class B affiliate, Piedmont League). According to Baseball Reference’s records, he appeared in 286 games, predominantly at catcher, and also played third base and outfield.

Gerald passed away in 2007 when Brzykcy was 7 years old. Brzykcy displays his grandfather’s first home run ball in his bedroom.

“He got two doubles off Whitey Ford in Spring Training back in the day,” Brzykcy said. “I didn’t have a lot of time to talk with him or hear stories, but that’s probably the biggest thing [I’ve been told about him].”

Brzykcy’s grandmother, Theresa Brzykcy, encouraged him to think of his grandfather when he sees a white bird feather. The tradition began when the Brzykcy family attended a Hall of Fame ceremony in Cooperstown, and one landed on his grandmother’s seat. Years later, Brzykcy found one under his baseball glove on the first day of instructional league ball.

“I kept it,” he said. “Every time I see one, it’s like him looking down.”

Brzykcy has followed in his grandfather’s footsteps, just on the opposite side of the battery. Undrafted out of Virginia Tech, Brzykcy signed with the Nationals in 2020 and has risen to be ranked as their No. 18 prospect by MLB Pipeline. He was a combined 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA and a 13.9 K/9 rate in 51 relief appearances in three levels last season. He also earned his first Triple-A save on the road at Buffalo in front of his extended family.

Brzykcy is participating in his first Major League Spring Training this year as a non-roster invitee. He is currently shut down for 2-4 weeks while recovering from a right forearm strain.

“I want to make him proud,” Brzykcy said. “He passed away when I was young, so it makes it even better just to kind of carry on his legacy. My family is a big baseball family, so being their person to look toward in baseball was my passion.”

Every day Brzykcy steps onto the field, his No. 5 necklace is with him. He has long stopped trying to figure out where it came from that Christmas Day. What matters is what it means to him and the inspiration he feels from it. For all of its enigma, its significance is clear.

“I think it’s probably him up there or someone,” Brzykcy said. “But just the mystery aspect of it, I just love it.”