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Washington Nationals News: Ryan Zimmerman hopes to stay healthy in ’16

By Pablo Roa

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Today’s District Daily discusses Ryan Zimmerman’s desire to stay healthy in 2016 and the Washington Nationals’ ongoing quest to fix their bullpen.

Good afternoon DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily. Get caught up on the latest Nats news and opinions with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.

We start off today’s Daily with an article from earlier this week by the Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes discussing the health of Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman. As Janes writes in her article, Zimmerman is feeling healthy after an injury-riddled 2015 season and looks to stay healthy in 2016.

Zimmerman played just 95 games last season after suffering from plantar fasciitis early in the year and then a hamstring strain at the end of the season. It was yet another injury-shortened campaign for Zimmerman, who has combined to play just 156 games over the last two seasons.

As Janes notes, Zimmerman hopes he can stay healthy next season and be a productive part of the lineup all year long. Zimmerman has proven many times that — when healthy — he can be one of the most dangerous hitters in the lineup and a key force for the Nationals’ offense. But staying healthy has always been a problem for Zimmerman, and the Nationals should undoubtedly be prepared to play without the first baseman if he were to miss significant time on the disabled list.

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Hopefully for the Nationals, Zimmerman can put his injury woes behind him and help lead the Nationals back to an NL East title in 2016.

Also in today’s Daily, the Post’s Thomas Boswell discusses the Nationals’ ongoing efforts to rebuild the bullpen, which was one of the team’s most glaring weaknesses last season.

Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.

Ryan Zimmerman is healthy, and once again, hoping to stay that way

(Chelsea Janes, Washington Post)

Ryan Zimmerman explains his recent injury trouble like this: In the course of 10 to 15 years spent playing a grueling game at its highest level, injuries strike nearly everyone — leaving only the very lucky unscathed.

“The last two, three years have been frustrating for me. Nobody wants to be on the field more than I want to be on the field. Unfortunately, some of those things happen,” Zimmerman said at Winterfest. “…Unfortunately, for me, it’s happened two, three years in a row. The goal this year is to stay on the field, and see what I can do with 145, 150 games.”

Had he played that many games in 2015, Zimmerman might have driven in enough runs to count it among his most productive seasons. With Bryce Harper on base in front of him more than ever before — though, to be fair, the rest of the lineup was usually depleted — Zimmerman drove in 73 runs in 95 games. At that pace, he would have driven in about 115 runs in 150 games, which would have been a career high. Read full article here.

Bullpen issues aren’t solved, but Nats have bought themselves some time

(Thomas Boswell, Washington Post)

At the end of their season, the Washington Nationals said they needed to do something about their bullpen. Looks like they decided to nuke it. Destroy all institutional memory. Snuff out the witnesses.

And they’re probably not finished.

It has been more than 11 weeks since Jonathan Papelbon celebrated fan appreciation day at Nationals Park by choking National League MVP Bryce Harper in the dugout. Read full article here.

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