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Nationals Player Of The Week: Ryan Zimmerman (5/23-5/29)

By Ricky Keeler

May 23, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (11) hits a rbi single scoring Washington Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth (not pictured) during the first inning against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
May 23, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (11) hits a rbi single scoring Washington Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth (not pictured) during the first inning against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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This week’s Nationals player of the week goes to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman for his three home runs. 

For our Nationals player of the week this week, we award it to one of the hitters who provided the Nats’ offense with the long ball this week. While second baseman Daniel Murphy broke the club record for the most hits in any month (41) and Stephen Strasburg struck out 11, this week’s award goes to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman for the first time this season.

In the seven games this week against the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, Zimmerman hit .333 with three home runs, five RBI’s, and had an on-base percentage of .345. His five RBI’s were tied with Wilson Ramos and Anthony Rendon this week and he led the team in home runs.

The home runs started on Tuesday night when he got the Nats on the board with a solo home run to left against Matt Harvey in the bottom of the fourth. It was the first of back-to-back home runs against Harvey along with Rendon and the first of five home runs the Nats hit in their 7-2 win over New York.

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Four days later, he was the bulk of the offense for the Nats when he hit two home runs against Adam Wainwright in a 9-4 loss to the Cardinals. During that game, he was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI’s in addition to the two home runs.

After a bad April where he hit .219 and ended up moving down to fifth in the batting order, the 31-year-old is hitting .263 in the month of May. His seven home runs this month lead the team and his 17 RBI’s are tied with Ramos for second on the Nats (two behind Murphy – 19).

If you take a look at Zimmerman’s numbers compared to the other first basemen in the National League, he has been one of the best. He is second in RBI’s behind Matt Adams of the Cardinals (18),  he is one home run behind Chris Carter of the Brewers (eight) , and he is third in slugging percentage (.545).

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It was a tough beginning of the month for Zimmerman when you consider all the missed opportunities he had when teams would intentionally walk Bryce Harper. Plus, his spot in the lineup went down to fifth as Dusty Baker move Murphy to the cleanup spot. However, Zimmerman is starting to find his form at the plate, which further deepens this Nationals lineup.

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