We only will be having two parts of this series this week, due to the Thanksgiving break. Wednesday we will be posing our 2nd annual "Thankful" post - we look forward to hearing your thoughts as well! But for now, we continue with part 29 of 44.
Ryan Zimmerman - Age 27 - Signed through 2013
How he became a Nat: Drafted in the 1st Round (4th overall) of the 2005 First Year Player Draft.
The Raw Numbers:
Games - 101
HR - 12
RBI - 49
UZR/150 - 10.6
WAR - 2.5
Key Stat: .798. This is Zimmerman's OPS from the past year and it is over a hundred points lower than his OPS from 2010. I mostly subscribe this to the fact that Zimmerman missed 58 games due to an oblique injury - but it's still a precipitous drop from the past two years. It should be noted that the last time Zimmerman missed significant time due to injury was the last time he had an OPS under .800 - which he followed up with an All-Star campaign the very next year.
Best Game: There are a few Zimmerman walk-off options here, but I'm going to go with one of the Nats top wins of the year - August 19th against the Phillies. By the time Zimmerman rolled up to the plate the Nats had already tied the game at 4 against lights-out closer, Ryan Madson - so they were at least going to extra innings. However, Zimmerman decided that it was time to go home - he hit a grand slam to end the game and give the Nationals an 8-4 victory.
Worst Game: June 25th against the White Sox in interleague action. Zimmerman was just 10 days returned from his trip to the DL - so he was still trying to get his timing back. In a forgettable day at the dish, Zimmerman went 0-4 at the plate while striking out 3 times. Ouch.
CapBall Grade: B. Zimmerman's 2nd half was far better than his injury-filled 1st half - and although the 2nd half was what we've come to expect from Zimmerman, it still wasn't his best year.
2012 Nats Status: Pencil him in the 3 hole in the lineup and at the hot corner come opening day. End of story. The only thing that could possibly change that is injury - or the craziest trade ever.
What does everyone think of the new throwing motion? Will it stick, is it better, will he go back to the side-arm whip? My opinion today is that there are more questions than answers. Will he stay healthy for a full season, for example? In any case - definitely a guy you want on your team - I think he shares his fof title now , though, with a few younger guys.
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