Detroit Tigers: Jordan Zimmermann off to a hot start
When the Detroit Tigers signed Jordan Zimmermann in the offseason they expected to get a quality starting pitcher. From the early returns, it looks like they could get much more than that.
When the Tigers traded David Price at last year’s trade deadline, the team knew that they were going to have to find a way to replace him if they wanted to be competitive in 2016. So this past winter, Detroit attempted to fill the void by signing 29-year-old Jordan Zimmermann to a five-year, $110 million deal.
This, in the scheme of all the starting pitching contracts the past couple years, was not overly expensive for a player that has made two All-Star teams and isn’t even 30 yet. But what this contract did show is that Detroit expected Zimmermann to be their top-of-the-rotation starter with Justin Verlander seemingly on the decline, and Zimmermann has impressed early on.
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Through three starts, he has not allowed a run and currently has a 3-0 record to boot. This makes him the only starting pitcher in the league to have an ERA of 0.00 at this point in the season. Zimmermann is also the first Tigers pitcher to ever begin his tenure with the team by allowing no runs through his first three starts.
How has Zimmermann been so successful thus far? One clear change is that he has been using his slider more frequently and effectively. According to Fangraphs, Zimmerman has thrown his slider slightly more than 30 percent of the time, which is the highest frequency of his career by six percent. He has also been attacking hitters with his mid 90s fastball.
Zimmermann has walked about 2.8 hitters per game, but right now those walks obviously haven’t been hurting him. What’s also impressive is that the veteran right-hander hasn’t been pitching well against subpar offenses, as he’s faced the Yankees, Pirates and Royals in his first three starts this season.
People shouldn’t be that shocked by Zimmermann’s success because he has been a quality starting pitcher throughout his major league career. In fact, he has not pitched to over a 3.70 ERA since the 2010 season, while also pitching to a an under-3.00 ERA twice during that time span. Zimmermann also has been able to control the strike zone, holding a career 1.8 walk rate per nine innings. He has been durable as well, making at least 32 starts in each of the past four years.
During his time with the the Nationals, Zimmermann kind of took the back seat to the likes of Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer. But when you look at the numbers, Zimmermann has certainly been more productive throughout his career than Strasburg and is close to the same level as Scherzer. Granted, he did have somewhat of a down year in 2015, finishing the season with his worst ERA since 2010. But he is still a typical power pitcher possessing a mid 90s fastball with sharp breaking off-speed pitches.
While he won’t be able to maintain the excellent numbers he’s started off the season with, there is no reason why Zimmermann won’t be able to continue pitching like one of the best in the American League. He has the stuff, experience and track record that could really help the Tigers become a force to be reckoned with this year.
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What do you think of Zimmermann’s hot start? Let us know in the comment section below.