Zimmerman uprising

Phil Gurnee ♦ June 5, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

When the Dodgers played the Nationals last year in the NLDS the one thing they thought they could count on was Ryan Zimmerman not being much of a factor. The weary 1st baseman came into the postseason with the 3rd worst wRC+ in the NL. He had been horrible in the regular season.  The postseason, however, was a different beast.  Zimmerman ended up posting a .917 OPS in the NLDS. He outhit his teammates, Harper/Rendon/Turner. The Dodgers won the NLDS but it wasn’t because of Ryan Zimmerman.

Whatever got Zimmerman going in October last year has carried over into 2017 and more so. Hard to remember an over 30-year-old player being so bad one year and coming back with an MVP type season the next.

The Nationals are neck and neck this year with Dodgers as they fight for the best record in the NL.  You don’t have to look far to figure out why the Nationals are playing so well. You just have to gaze out toward 1st base.

This year Ryan Zimmerman is the best hitting player in the National League. His wRC+ is 194. His teammate Bryce Harper is 2nd at 177. His other teammate, Daniel Murphy is 10th at 150.  Anthony Rendon is 13th at 137.

Get the picture?

Anyway, back to Ryan Zimmerman:

• He’s tied for most home runs in the NL with 16.
• He has the 2nd most doubles with 18, one behind Nolan Arenado.
• He leads the NL in RBI with 48
• He leads the NL in Slug %  at .713. His closest competitor is Bryce Harper at .648. That is a crazy number.
• He leads the NL in ISO at .338
• He leads the NL in OPS at 1.133
• He leads the NL in wRC+ at 194.
• He leads the NL in wOBA at .469

He’s not slowing down. The A’s intentionally walked Harper yesterday. Zimmerman crushed a home run.

This is a dangerous lineup. This isn’t October 2016.