Washington Nationals: The Resurgence Of Ryan Zimmerman
By Ron Juckett
A red-hot Ryan Zimmerman is one of the big reasons the Washington Nationals are off to a flying start. What changed for the face of the franchise?
Hands up if you thought Ryan Zimmerman would be the second-most productive bat on the Washington Nationals after 15 games.
Halfway through the Grapefruit League, Zimmerman looked old and slow. When he made contact, the ball never left the ground. With the addition of Adam Lind to the team, some wondered when Zimmerman would find the bench and let the younger Lind take over.
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We could not be more wrong. For the face of the franchise that is a wonderful thing.
Over the first part of the season, Zimmerman carries a slash line of .389/.431/.778. His OPS of 1.209 adjusts to 206 or 106 percent above league average. Here is a guy who hit .218 last year with an on-base percentage of .272! These are not merely Comeback Player of the Year numbers, they win you MVP.
It has been eight years since Zimmerman had a five homer April. He is tied with Gary Carter on the franchise home run record at 220. Another 15 and he passes Andre Dawson and Vladimir Guerrero at the top.
In his 13th season, the first Washington Nationals player drafted shows he is one of the best to wear the uniform. More importantly, he is enjoying it.
Whatever adjustments Rick Schu and Jacques Jones made in West Palm Beach worked. As Major League Baseball embraces advanced statistics, thing such as launch angles and exit velocity are worked on. Increasing Zimmerman’s angle made the difference.
Whether it was watching old video or something worked on in the batting cages, Zimmerman elevated the ball and great things happened. He always has stung the baseball, but by the end of last year, those laser shots found waiting gloves.
Not this year.
His 11 extra-base hits ties him for the team lead with Bryce Harper. Zimmerman’s six doubles is one behind Daniel Murphy while his 21 hits ties with Murphy and is one back of Harper.
Considering where things stood after last season, the mere thought of this resurgence was unrealistic. Yet, here we are. Tucked behind two superstars, the grizzled veteran is on the prowl again.
Perhaps because the expectations were so low, the pressure was not there for Zimmerman to perform. We tell you Spring Training numbers mean little, but he went oh-for-two weeks. If the hard-hit balls were finding gloves again, there would be no concern, but they were not.
Although Zimmerman will not keep this pace up over six months, he looks the best he has 2013. May we mention that was the last season where he played over 140 games.
For us fans, just enjoy the ride.