Washington Nationals: 5 to watch as surging Mets come to D.C.

Ryan Zimmerman

Zimmerman has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season and he is going to be the starting first baseman for the National League All-Star team. However, the pace he was on was going to be difficult for him to keep up.

Over his last seven games, Zimmerman is just 4-for-25 at the plate with one extra base hit and three RBI’s. After getting the night off last night, he ended the Cardinals series going 2-for-8 with three strikeouts.

It’s also been a while since Zimmerman has hit one out of the park. His last home run came back on June 13 when he hit two of them against the Atlanta Braves and he needs just one home run to be the Nats/Expos all-time home run leader.

Despite the slump, Zimmerman remains in the top three in the National League in batting average (.335), RBI’s (62), and slugging percentage (.619). Plus, he gets to face a team in the Mets that he’s had a lot of success against this season.

In ten games against New York this year, Zimmerman is 13-for-38 (.342) with four home runs and 13 RBI’s. While he is a combined 1-for-12 in his career against Matz and Lugo, Zimmerman does have two home runs in his career against deGrom.

With one week to go in the first half of the season, Zimmerman will look to end this portion of the schedule on a good note. If you consider that he has eight combined home runs this season against the Nats next two opponents, it’s a safe bet the slump won’t last much longer.