Scouting Report Jordan Zimmermann

Jordan Zimmermann - #27

Pictures taken at Citi Field April 29, 2009

24 years old (25 in May)
3rd Major League Season (24 career starts)
6'2", 220 pounds
Bats R/Throws R

Profile: 2nd round pick in 2007, who has been pushed through the minor leagues and he has responded and performed at every level. He is being used as the comparison/model for Strasburg's rehabilitation program.

Lot of stress going to be placed on that elbow...Wonder why he had TJ

Good: He has a hard fastball, which tops out at 95-96 mph (average 93 mph), a plus slider (85 mph), and also mixes in a curve (77 mph), and change (85 mph). He has thrown more sliders than his curve since his comeback from Tommy John surgery (7 starts in 2010). His career K/9 rate is 8.5, and BB/9 is < 3, which is a reason for optimism. He is a good athlete who fields his position well, and even DH'd in college when he wasn't pitching. He is ranked the #3 Nationals player (behind Strasburg and Harper) for 25 years and under.

Bad: He was plagued by home runs last year when he returned from Tommy John (warning, small sample size). Although he has great stuff, he hasn't quite put it all together yet, with a 4.63 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. His FIP is 4.15 (3.59 in 2009).

He took the loss in his opening game versus the Braves, but he threw well (6 innings, 4 hits, 3 walks, 2 earned runs (3 runs). The bullpen/his fielders didn't do him any favors, as the Braves won 11-2. One thing to watch is he only threw 84 pitches, so the Nationals may still be monitoring his pitches (and rightfully so, no reason to injure this young talent in April).

Zimmermann is a future #1/#2 starter, who can be dominating, but still is finding his way to be consistent.