As impressive as Ryan Zimmerman has been in his rookie season, you wonder just how good he will be.
While you’re pondering that, consider this: There’s a very good chance, based on reasonable expectations, he could have a Hall-of-Fame-caliber career and never start an All-Star Game at third base.
How could that happen?
Thanks to fan voting and things like market size, club payroll and national publicity, there’s a good chance that the Mets’ David Wright will routinely enjoy the mid-season honors with Zim as his backup.
Zimmerman and Wright know each other well. Both are Virginia Beach natives and they played together as amateurs. Wright signed with the Mets out of high school while Zim opted for the collegiate route at Virginia. Wright ended up seeing better pitching in pro ball than Ryan saw in the ACC, but it seemed not to matter much in the long run: the Nats’ third baseman arrived in the NL with only 250 minor league at-bats and hit .397 last year, albeit with no power, a situation that changed this year.
According to several major league scouts, the contrast between Wright and Zimmerman is fairly obvious. Wright is seen as the more gregarious, emotional player. He emerged as the Mets’ team leader almost as soon as he arrived in New York. He was not good defensively as a prospect, but made himself into a solid fielder in the minors. A good two-strike hitter, he’s more likely to hit the ball the other way than Zimmerman.
The Nationals’ third baseman is seen as quiet and extremely focused, more of a finesse player whose hustle is unquestioned but not always obvious. Essentially, he makes it look easy.
One scout was even more specific. “Absolutely, he reminds you of Cal Ripken. He has a similar body, identical demeanor, great hands, and great quickness. In fact, even though Felipe Lopez is a major league shortstop, it wouldn’t shock me if Zimmerman ended up moving over.”
Excuse me?
“Hey, he played shortstop at UVA and he was terrific,” the scout added. “Great range, smart, knew where to play the hitters. Ripken got heavier later in his career and Zimmerman might too, but he could always move back to third.”
Those are the words of a major league scout who — I promise you — does not work for the Nationals.
It’s completely premature to start thinking about Cooperstown for either man. But I don’t think it’s going out on much of a limb to say Zimmerman will turn out to be the best third baseman this town has seen – ever.
From Ossie Bluege to Eddie Yost to Ken McMullen, Zim seems to be total package. While he’ll likely never walk 150 times in season like Yost, he’ll likely have a similar near-.400 on base percentage and produce a lot more offense in the bargain.
The Nationals are playing for pride — and draft position — at this stage of the season and escaping the cellar isn’t likely. But beyond celebrating the exploits of Alfonso Soriano, fans can hang their hats on the D.C. future of No. 11.
Phil Wood has covered sports in the Washington-Baltimore market for more than 30 years.
