Jordan Zimmermann was supposed to be the center of attention last Wednesday as it was his first time back in Washington, D.C. since signing a five-year, $110 million contract with the Tigers. The former National was quickly overshadowed by the dominance of opposing starter Max Scherzer, who would go on to strike out 20 batters in a 119-pitch complete game win. Zimmermann notched a quality start, but it wasn’t his locker the media rushed towards after the game.
Zimmermann is worthy of some attention, however. The right-hander is now 5-2 with an American League-best 1.50 ERA and a 28/11 K/BB ratio in 48 innings. He has been the lone bright spot in an underperforming Tigers rotation. Justin Verlander Has a 4.71 ERA over eight starts, Anibal Sanchez 5.91 over eight, Mike Pelfrey 5.80 over seven, while Shane Greene and Michael Fulmer each have ERA’s over 6.00 in seven combined starts. Without Zimmermann, who knows where the 16-21, fourth-place Tigers would be right now.
Tonight, Zimmermann will take on the Twins in a home start at 7:10 PM EDT. He’ll oppose youngster Jose Berrios.
The rest of Monday’s action...
Cincinnati Reds (John Lamb) @ Cleveland Indians (Cody Anderson), 6:10 PM EDT
Atlanta Braves (Williams Perez) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (Jon Niese), 7:05 PM EDT
Boston Red Sox (Rick Porcello) @ Kansas City Royals (Yordano Ventura), 7:05 PM EDT
Miami Marlins (Adam Conley) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Jerad Eickhoff), 7:05 PM EDT
Tampa Bay Rays (Drew Smyly) @ Toronto Blue Jays (J.A. Happ), 7:07 PM EDT
New York Yankees (Chad Green) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (Robbie Ray), 9:40 PM EDT
Texas Rangers (Derek Holland) @ Oakland Athletics (Sean Manaea), 10:05 PM EDT
Los Angeles Angels (Matt Shoemaker) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Kenta Maeda), 10:10 PM EDT
