NL Player of the Week: Jordan Zimmermann

Jun 8, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher

(27) is congratulated by catcher

(59) after the game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Nationals defeated the Padres 6-0. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Last week was undoubtedly the best week of the 2014 season so far for the Washington Nationals. The team recovered from its first dip below .500 and took  series victories from the Rangers, Phillies and Padres.

Thanks to last week’s success, the Nationals have now won seven of their last nine games and suddenly find themselves in a three-way tie with the Braves and Marlins for first place in the National League East. But as good as the ballclub was as a whole, nobody was better than right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, whose dominant performances on the mound earned him NL  Player of the Week honors.

The right-hander threw eight scoreless innings against the Phillies last Tuesday, a game in which he allowed just five hits and struck out four batters. As if that wasn’t enough, Zimmermann went on to pitch the best game of his career and arguably the best game in Nationals history five days later, when he pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout and struck out 12 batters against the Padres on Sunday.

Zimmermann is the first Nationals player to earn Player of the Week honors since Ryan Zimmerman accomplished the feat in mid-July of 2012, the same month in which Zimmermann won NL Pitcher of the Month honors.

Zimmermann is now 5-2 on the season with a 3.12 ERA.

If you missed Zimmermann’s dominant performance on Sunday, checkout the video below: