Jordan Zimmerman. You’ve heard that name if you have followed the MLB over the past five or so years. He was actually an ace for the Washington Nationals for a four year stretch from 2012-2015. While Stephen Strasburg was constantly battling injuries, Jordan Zimmerman was the man asked to slow down opponents while their star pitcher was on the shelf. It started as Zimm being looked at as a valuable second piece in their rotation, but with all of the injuries to Strasburg, Zimmerman was being looked at like an ace, and pitched like it. From 2011-2014, his ERA never went above 3.25 in any of those seasons. In 2015, it reached 3.66, still respectable. His win total over that stretch was 66, and he led the league in wins in 2013. He had two All-Star appearances, and finished top 10 in the Cy Young twice as well. So what happened? Where is he now, and why hasn’t Jordan Zimmerman been his usual self since joining Detroit?
In 2015, Jordan Zimmermann, Max Scherzer, and Stephen Strasburg headlined a deadly rotation for the Washington Nationals. Scherzer was signed to a seven year, $210 million dollar contract, on top of Gio Gonzalez’ $11 million base salary owed over the next couple of years, as well as Stephen Strasburg who was nearing free agency in the next few seasons. Of those four pitchers, the 29 year old Zimm was the one who was let go to test the free agent waters, and found himself in Detroit on a five year $110 million contract until 2022. You can’t blame Detroit though. Zimm was one of the most consistent pitchers of the last few years, was a top pitcher in the NL, and they were trying to get a quick ace to contend while they still had Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Ian Kinsler, Yoenis Cespedes, J.D. Martinez, and a whole slew of other talents, including David Price. So in a vacuum, it was a great addition to keep their status as top dogs in the AL Central.
Jordan did not get the memo. A neck injury forced him to only appear in 19 games in 2016, the same season when they shipped Price to Toronto and Cespedes to the Mets. In 2017, he started in 29 games, but let up an AL leading 108 ER, which was good for a 6.08 ERA. A dip in velocity to his fast ball is a big reason why. He was touching 95-97 during his best years, and now he is hitting 90-93 on his 4-seamer. His inability to develop his breaking pitches for outs, and a somewhat failed sinker to go along with the fact that he wasn’t close to being a “strikeout pitcher,” is just a rough reality. Not to mention he got beamed by a linedrive in the noggin this April, which sidelined him for a while this season.
In summary, Zimmerman has been one of the worst $100 million decisions of recent memory. Detroit thought they were getting a bonafide ace, if not a great 2nd or 3rd arm in the rotation, but all they got was a headache. Since returning from a 2009 Tommy John surgery that cut his rookie year start in 2011 as a full-time starter, he had posted career lows in innings since moving to the Motor City, to go along with career highs in ERA, FIP, and WHIP. It is just a shame to see Jordan struggle the way he has. He was the definition of consistency, and now he is the definition of inconvenience.
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