If you’re havin’ pitching problems I feel bad for you, son… I got 99 problems but pitching ain’t one…. Check the baseline out, uh-huh… Bounce wit it to my bro Ryan’s glove, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh, yeah… Can’t leave the hitters alone, the Nats need me… There’s a new Jay-Z in town and his name is Jordan Zimmermann. Hey, it’s everyone’s favorite for the National League Rookie of the Year. Hey, how ya doing, National League’s favorite for Rookie of the Year? Can I get you some hundred dollar bills to use for toilet paper? Jordan Zimmermann went from no one’s cheddah to melting his Velveeta all over people’s draft sheets. So where’d Jordan Zimmermann come from and is he here to stay? Is he, dare I say, a 2009 fantasy sleeper?
In our Nats preview post, the owner of FireJimBowden (prescient!) was asked about Zimmermann and he said, “I would be careful. The Nationals defense is going to be terrible. He probably won’t open the season in the rotation. And I see him as more of a #2-3 eventually anyway.” And that’s me quoting him! Granted, that was before Zimmermann took it to spring trainingers. Through Monday of spring training, Jordan Zimmermann has struck out 16 in 12 1/3 scoreless innings. Now I understand the hype! /sarcasm With four pitches and Colin Balester in the rotation, there’s no reason to think Zimmermann can’t crack the Nats staff. It’s a matter of whether the Nats will give him the shot. With the team’s overall performance and the whole Bowden riding his Segway to the bank with overaged prospects thing, the Nats could use some good pub so I think they probably will let ‘mann open the season in the rotation. But what can we expect of him?
Since Jordan Zimmermann is unfortunately on the Nats, don’t count on Wins. As mentioned early, he has 4 pitches. He uses those 4 pitches to strikeout snitches. He K’d a little more than a guy an inning in the minors. Then couple that with good (enough) control. Since ya’ll know me better than I know myself (what did I have lunch? Wrong! Pastrami!), guess what I say to a youngster that can strikeout people? Sign me up! In the deep rounds of a draft, I’d definitely take a flier on Jordan Zimmermann. But remember, for every Volquez, there’s a Parra and Cueto.
Hit Me! Best headline thingy ever! In my mind’s eye I can see Rick Rubin rolling w/ his big ass beard next to Jay-Z and he’s telling me to hold off on the Nat’s J.Z. for now cause the Nat’s J.Z. is doing 55 in a 54. The law (of averages) will catch up when the K-9 comes. If that happens, it will be back in the system (AAA) with the riff-raff again.
Any preference between Parra and Meche or is it a toss up? I need to add one of them.
And Phil Hughes is on waivers now. Does he still have potential?
Any chance Neftali Perez or Rick Porcello are fantasy relevant this season?
Thanks.
SO Shawn HIll or Jay Z??
I’d rather see jordan Zimmerman get pounded and ruin another gm’s ERA and Whip than take a chance on him
@agarthered: Shawn Hill is still recovering from injury – and there’s a decent chance he won’t make the rotation at the beginning of the season (he’ll be stretching/strengthening his arm in the bullpen).
@Anthony G: I picked up JZ in the last round of a draft (pick #286) on Sunday. That’s a chance that I have no problem taking.
@mc serch: Word. Or he rolls like Jer. Weaver for his first year then gravity kicks in.
@Ashley: Depends what’s around them, Parra has more upside, Meche is more reliable.
re: Feliz/Porcello — This year, don’t think out of the gate.
@agarthered: Depends what you need. Zimemrmann has more upside, Hill is oft-injured but reliable when healthy.
I am weighing Zimmermann or Maholm. I am going to drop the last pick in my draft so with Mr. Irrelevant, who would you take?
@Grey:
Roy Halladay
Matt Cain
Ricky Nolasco
Chris Young
Derek Lowe
Randy Johnson
Ubaldo Jimenez
My closers are Joe Nathan, Joakim Soria, and Heath Bell
Parra – 2.70 ERA, 6 K’s, 2 BB in 10 IP this spring… 2 BB in 10 IP a good sign or just a lucky 10 IP?
@Ewoks: Zimmermann
@Ashley: Parra
@Grey: Any of:
Chien-Ming Wang
Francisco Cordero
Chris Pérez
George Sherrill
Wandy Rodríguez
Jeremy Guthrie
Troy Percival
Brandon Lyon
Leo Nunez
deserving of being kicked to the kerb in favour of Jay-Z? I’m thinking not.
@Steve: Hold tight.
The 22-year-old right-hander has 22 strikeouts and two walks in 12 1-3 scoreless innings this spring. He has made five appearances, including two starts.
“He’s quite impressive,” Nationals manager Manny Acta said. “He attacks the strike zone. He had a very sharp slider today. For those guys that haven’t seen him, they struggled with that slider. He locked up a couple good hitters in that lineup.”
Zimmermann, who went 10-3 with a 2.89 ERA last year in a season split between Class-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg, has a good chance to crack Washington’s major league rotation.
“We’ve got three weeks to go. If he doesn’t get anybody out from here to the last day of the season, then I’m going to have to eat my words if I put him in the rotation today,” Acta said. “We’re going to make the decision on whether it’s going to be the best for him or for us. Right now, it looks like it will be the best thing for us.”
I’m just going to grab Zimmermann for now just in case he makes the rotation. I know he won’t be anything special in the regular season, but maybe he can have a couple good starts and allow me trade him for someone decent.
A couple sites say 22 strikeouts in 12+ IP, that doesn’t seem possible… Maybe they mean 22 strikeouts in 16 IP?
No disrespect intended to resident of either city, but this is just in from the Baseballers-Have-The-Broadest-Horizons desk:
David O’Brien, of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, reports Atlanta Braves 3B Chipper Jones said he would not play in the next World Baseball Classic unless they change the format. “Just way too many days off,” Jones said. “We stayed in Toronto for a week and played three games. I don’t know if you ever stayed in Toronto, but it’s not exactly Las Vegas.”
I’m cursing that autopick more by the day.
@Ashley: I heard he struckout 16 in 12 1/3, hence what I wrote in the post above, but I might be wrong. Either way, he has been blowing away the competish. Thanks for sharing that report. Appreciated!
@Steve: Ha, that’s a great quote.
@Grey: Do they not have Hooters in Toronto?
@Steve: It’s ok Chipper.. USA probably won’t be asking you to play again next time considering you’ll be like 50 yrs old and have 0 hits and about 7 strikeouts so far.
@Grey: No I think you’re right. I think it’s just a typo by Yahoo! and ESPN.
Tue, Mar 17
Zimmermann looks ready for the big leagues. Washington’s prized pitching prospect breezed through another dominant outing Monday, striking out six in four shutout innings of two-hit ball to help the Nationals beat the Florida Marlins 3-1.
Advice: The 22-year-old right-hander has 22 strikeouts and two walks in 12 1-3 scoreless innings this spring.
So if you add his 4 IP, 6 K outting from yesterday.. He’d have 22 K’s in 16 1-3 IP. But I guess they forgot to add 4 IP to his spring training totals, it’s a very tricky process.. Yahoo! will catch on eventually.
So… Just heard about the Hoffman strained oblique. Is Villanueva the pickup, and would you consider dropping someone like Bonderman or kouzmanoff for him?
@Cubbiesfan299: Yeah, I’d grab Villanueva if I had room, but Hoffman is supposed to be ready for the season still.
@Grey: (Head 2 Head Points League) Still unemployed, still need some advice. Daniel Murphy, is he worth a roster spot? You don’t like the Iwamura , maybe that’s what my itch is. Would you drop Iwamura for Murphy? I hear Murphy may get some time at 2B. Give me your Grey’ism on this subject.
@Juice: I’d drop Iwamura for Murphy. He might be a 15/15 guy, but chances are he won’t. This is more an indictment of Iwamura then an endorsement of Murphy.
Get a job!
@Grey: Motte gonna snag the STL closing gig? Pinella keeps saying he hasn’t decided but that’s like watching 8 episodes of 90210 to see if Dillion picks Brena or Kelly, we all knew he was picking Kelly. Brenda was old news. So give it to me straight Grey there’s no need to either of us to continue like this, Motte or Perez?
@Grey: I know your sick of me calling, I’m sorry…but what about the Seattle situation? Stay away from everyone because Cordero is the guy, or do I pick up a Batista?
@Juice: Motte right now, subject to change tomorrow.
re: Seattle, too early to tell, Lowe, Batista, etc. still in the running. I’d put my money on Lowe right now, but subject to change, as well.
Oh, also Grey. What are your thoughts on Kendry Morales as a potential sleeper? He’s completely tooled on AAA in year’s past and is having a darn solid spring campaign. What do you think his line is for this year? Also, this is the 14 team mixed I drafted last weekend after consulting you many times over. Here’s what evil you have wrought. Thoughts?
C: Ianetta
1B: Swisher (I’ll take the blame for this one)
2B: Uggla
SS: Tulo
3B: Wright
OF: Kemp
OF: Crawford
OF: Chrispy
Util: AGordon
Util: Bri Rob (he fell to my third round pick, which is essentially a 4-5th round in any other league. had to pull the trigger… i know… i know)
SP: Hamels
SP: Kazmir
SP: Vazquez
SP: Lowe
SP: JWeaver
SP: Price
RP: M. Rivera
RP: Devine
RP: Lyon
RP: Corpas
RP: C Wade
RP: Marte
(it’s a holds/ops league)
B: Kouz, F. Lewis
@Grey, @Steve – FWIW, I’ve been to both Toronto and Las Vegas, and I prefer Toronto.
I picked up Zimmermann in a Head to head league where I am using middle relievers (with no holds as a category) and punting saves. No one else in the league really picks up middle relief, so there will still be quality there a month into the year…so, I figured I would keep Zimmermann for a bit and see how he does in the majors without it hurting too much.
@Cubbiesfan299: You have Brian Roberts as your Utility man? And Swisher at 1st? Seriously? Kendry post is actually coming tomorrow. I like him. I would drop one of your Holds guys for him. I know it’s a Holds league, but Holds guys are a dime a dozen, you’ll be able to pick up others. See Maitland’s comment for further confirmation on that.
@Maitland: Nice.
Yea, I’m trying to swing a trade for Butler, Laroche, or Giambi. Butler’s owner’ll give im to me for Corpas (I’ll try to get him to throw in Jay Z). Should I do that or look further into Laroche/Giambi? It’s ops league, so I’m kinda feeling like Giambi might be a solid play. (though as you saw with my team above, avg is a sink…)
@cubbiesfan299: Giambi could be solid there. See what you can get him for.
Victorino v. Upton? Entertaining a trade.
My OF: Beltran, Victorino, McLouth, Dunn, Bruce
My U/BN: Maybin, Choo (it’s a CBS league so I’ve got 38923209 bench spots)
Just want to say jaydiohead.com
@sean: I like Upton better if that’s your pregunta.
grey with hanleys shoulder problem popping up again do you still feel he is worth the number 1 pick?
@mikey boy324: So far I’ve heard the same things that happen all the time with Hanley. His shoulder gives him trouble, been like that for the last few years. It worries me, but not enough to skip over him. He’s a 35/30 guy at SS.
@Grey – Speaking of rookie SPs, who is your favorite? Hanson? I am impressed that he dominated such a hitting heavy league. Parcello? Let me see him do something in AAA, but he obviously very good.
@James: For this year — Price, Kawakami, Zimmermann, Hanson, Porcello, Feliz.
@Grey: Time for the daily J Upton question. JD Drew just got dropped in my H2H league. Do you like him better than Upton?
We do count OBP in this league…
http://i41.tinypic.com/3494dqw.jpg
@Steve: Yeah, I do. I hate to drop Upton, but Drew’s better as of right now.
@GasTheObese: Nice! We might have to have a GasTheObese side section of the site just for your pics.
@Grey: Not that Drew is the answer to everything, but it’s proven vs unproven, right?
Dukes was dropped in my league, not really sure why? one guy just went crazy dropped like 5 guys, picked up 5 new guys, 12 team H2H deeper league…
@Steve: Yeah.
@Tony: Then you gotta pick him up.
@Grey: Interesting to see Evans posted a Jay Z article on Yahoo today, cowinkydinky? Methinks not.
If he posts a Morales one tomorrow, be sure to sue him.
@BigFatHippo: My lawyer’s on retainer. Let’s get ‘em!
@Grey: I’ll be sure to keep an eye on him for ya. Maybe we can roll him in the parking lot when he leaves the bar.
@BigFatHippo: I think AL K. might be the guy for that.
BTW, I’d like to see big o and Al K. have a battle of caps vs. lowercase.
@Grey: Hehe, AL K WOULD WIN HANDS DOWN. Remember, guns don’t kill people, Al K takes the gun away and beats em with it.
@BigFatHippo: I think Big O’s in his 70s too so that can’t help.
@Grey: Hey, some of them ODB’s wield a mean cane.
I’m particularly afeared of that bastard across the street that yells at my kids when they get on his lawn………..gonna get a dog, teach him where to poop.
Would you drop parra or carmona to add J. Zimm?
@Jack: Nope.