Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Washington Nationals

January 24, 2006 @ 14:29:34

By Jim Walker
Edited by KFFL Staff

With the departure of veteran 3B Vinny Castilla, who was traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for SP Brian Lawrence during the offseason, the Washington Nationals were in a bit of a quandary.  Who was going to man the hot corner in 2006?  Well look no further than 3B Ryan Zimmerman who, it could be argued, forced the Nationals' hand to trade Castilla by playing lights-out baseball in the minor leagues.  Not to mention he's just a wee bit younger and should be a mainstay in Washington for years to come, something you could not say for Castilla. 

All of the seamheads amongst us, you know who you are, have known about this kid for awhile now but let's take a look back so we can bring the rest of you up to speed. 

Zimmerman was the fourth overall pick in the 2005 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia where he batted a robust .393 with six home runs and 59 RBI during his final year there.  While he was at Virginia, he garnered such accolades as Second Team Preseason All-American by Baseball America (2005), Second Team Preseason All-American by the National Baseball Writers Association (2005), USA Baseball's Athlete of the Year (2005) and First Team All-ACC.  He was also named the ACC Preseason Hitter of the Year by SEBaseball.com.  He helped guide Team USA to a gold medal finish and was tournament MVP in the World University Games while winning the team Triple Crown. He also set a new US National team record for batting average by hitting .468. 

Ok, we've established he knows what to do with the lumber, er, aluminum.  He can flat out hit.  Period.  But how will he transition to the minor leagues and eventually the majors?  Well if his 2005 climb up the ranks of the Nationals farm system is any indication, he can hit with wood as well.  He started out the year at low Class-A Savannah and only hit .471 in four games with two home runs and six RBI.  This promptly earned him a promotion to Double-A Harrisburg where his numbers came back down to earth a bit, but were still great overall, hitting .336 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI in 63 games.  Those numbers are probably a better indication of what we can hope to expect at the major league level.  Case in point, during a late season call-up with the Nationals Zimmerman hit .397 with zero home runs and six RBI in 20 games. 

Going forward for the Nationals, it can be a bit risky to put all of your eggs in one basket so to speak, but it appears they have a back-up plan in place in case Zimmerman should falter a bit.  If Zimmerman struggles, look for 3B Brendan Harris, no slouch himself with the bat to, at the very least, split time with veteran utility man Jamey Carroll until Zimmerman had things straightened out.  We'd give the edge to Harris if the worst happens at this point as he has more power than Carroll, can hit for average, and seems to have righted the ship in terms of his hitting overall.  In fact, during the most recent Arizona Fall League he was the Peoria Saguaros best hitter with a hearty .376 average, one home run and 13 RBI. During his most recent campaign with Triple-A New Orleans, he finished the year hitting .270 with 13 homers and 81 RBI.  He certainly has played himself back into a role with the Nationals.

Back to Zimmerman.  He is a candidate for Rookie of the Year honors, but this is a very deep rookie class, which should include 1B Prince Fielder (Brewers), RF Jeremy Hermida (Marlins), 2B Josh Barfield (Padres), 3B Andy Marte (Dodgers), and 1B Ryan Shealy (Rockies).  We put Shealy on the list because if he can make a move to the outfield in Denver, he is a definite candidate for ROY honors as first base is currently occupied by some guy named Todd Helton.

Looking ahead for Zimmerman we, as noted above, expect him to be in the running for Rookie of the Year honors and hit, conservatively, between .280 and .300.  His power isn't quite what you want from a corner infielder but he should hit between 10 and 15 home runs for the year with an RBI total between 50 and 60.  The power numbers will likely come eventually, don't worry.  Zimmerman is somewhat of a sleeper pick and should be available somewhere in the middle rounds.  Take a flier on him, sit back and reap the benefits.  

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Jim Walker
Jim has been a lifelong sports fan with particular interests in baseball, football and hockey. He's been involved in fantasy sports since 1998 and is looking forward to contributing solid analysis and witty insights to his reports.

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