TWICE AS NICE

By:  Holly Horning & Kurt Snyder

The Tigers welcomed back a familiar face to the starting rotation this week. Jordan Zimmermann suddenly is back and just his experience alone should help as the Tigers have had a difficult time putting together a 5-man rotation.

So now that he’s back, our writers will weigh in on what they expect to see from him going forward.

Holly and Kurt will give their answers to the following question regarding JZ’s return, never sharing before publication, in order to offer a better shot at a wider range of perspective.

Let’s dig in.

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After Jordan Zimmermann’s return to the mound on Wednesday, is there hope in his recovery as a starting pitcher? What is his future with Detroit?

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HOLLY

The future viability of JZ was probably determined by his first year in Detroit. As a member of the Nationals, he routinely pitched a full season every year since his Tommy John surgery with winning records and ERAs in the 2’s and 3’s.

He appeared to continue this pattern when he first arrived in Detroit, starting off the year 8-2 with a 2.58 ERA and serious Cy Young buzz, until he got hurt. And thus, the odyssey began with multiple reports that it was his back… no, his neck… no, his arm… and/or various other confusing statements by the club pertaining to other body parts that were the reasons for his sudden demise. No one within the Tigers’ organization could diagnose him with certainty which is why he spoke out publicly about his frustration and ended up seeking outside medical expertise back in Washington.

Since the middle of 2016, Zimmermann hasn’t been able to pitch a full season and has racked up losing records with ERAs of 4’s and 6’s. So far this season, he’s yet to win a game and his ERA sits over 6.0 – a pattern that has not changed since the middle of his first year in Detroit, which shows us little hope that things will change given that it’s now been 4 years of trying to get him healthy.

But JZ will stick because of 2 things – his salary and the lack of starting pitching on the team. He is the second most expensive player on the team after Miggy and is earning $25 million this year as well as next. The Tigers would not have insurance on him because of his previous injury history and it is highly unlikely that Chris Ilitch would simply cut him loose so he will remain an untradeable Tiger until his contract expires and retirement beckons.

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KURT

Jordan Zimmermann represents the worst free agent signing by the Tigers in a very long time. After one half of a season , fans thought it was validation of a solid signing for the starting staff.  But JZ has endured injuries which more than likely have stunted his ability to pitch effectively for long stretches.

Any positive signs we see end up being false hope as inevitably, more injuries pop up or he struggles with command. Meanwhile, we continue to see his velocity go down making command all the more important.   He may still hold a place in the rotation by default, but he’s done as a Tiger more than a year before his contract expires.

His future will only consist of another season of disappointment as he can no longer win battles on the mound. How can we expect him to take the game to hitters when he has lost all of what made him such a good pitcher?

He came to Detroit notably in decline as a pitcher, but was considered a safe pick in free agency. There was a whole lot of hope in that statement. Now we can only hope he can salvage some semblance of success in his remaining 1 ½ years with the Tigers.

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