The Royals are witnessing the next step in Kyle Zimmer’s comeback this season
Kyle Zimmer reached a point where his primary focus is pitching. As simple as that sounds, it took a huge amount of perseverance just for the former first-round draft pick to get himself to that starting point.
Last season, the Kansas City Royals’ right-handed reliever went from being the example of great potential derailed by injuries to a universal feel-good story when he made it to the big leagues.
This year, he has taken another step and started to turn himself into a capable bullpen option that manager Mike Matheny can rely on regardless of situation.
Tuesday night’s win over the Cleveland Indians served as a snapshot of how far Zimmer has come. Matheny gave him the ball with a runner on and needing to settle the waters after a bumpy start from Jakob Junis. Earlier this year, Zimmer came with a bit of a handle with care label in the eyes of his skipper.
Matheny made a conscious effort to give him a clean inning to allow him ample time to warm up and avoid sending him into a game with men already on base.
That’s part of the reason Zimmer fit the bill as an “opener” when the club was short starting pitcher and went with bullpen days in the opening week of the season.
But Tuesday night, Zimmer entered with a runner on second base — in scoring position — and just one out and trailing by two runs. Zimmer picked off the runner at second, his first career pickoff in the majors, then finished off a 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out three and didn’t allow a hit.
“The physical aspect of it has freed me up mentally,” Zimmer said of his success this season. “Whereas last year I think I was still trying to figure out what kind of pitcher I was because I had missed so much time and been hurt for so long. Trying to figure that out at the highest level isn’t the easiest thing in the world.”
The 6-foot-3 San Francisco native endured four surgeries over the course of six minor-league seasons leading into spring training of 2019.
Zimmer felt his latest setback as it happened in spring training 2018. As he once described it, he threw a pitch and felt his shoulder go with the ball towards home plate.
He took the entire 2018 season to rehab and take part in the training program at Driveline Baseball, a method that utilized a mixture of biomechanical analysis, strength training, high-speed cameras, sensors, spin-rate tracking and throwing weighted balls.
He succeeded in getting his body ready to pitch, and made his MLB debut in 2019 — nearly seven injury-plagued years after he’d been drafted fifth overall in 2012.
But last season wasn’t without its pitfalls.
While healthy and showing high-end velocity, Zimmer struggled with command last season while in the majors. He walked 19 batters in 18 1/3 innings, and he left hittable pitches out over the plate to the tune of a .337 opponent’s batting average and a 10.80 ERA.
Zimmer spent a lot of his offseason as well as the break between spring training in Arizona and spring training 2.0 in Kansas City refining his pitching motion.
He worked with former big-leaguer and pitching guru Tom House in San Diego, cutting out as much wasted movement as possible, including slight turns of his head and shoulders.
The result has allowed Zimmer to be more direct to the plate in his delivery and pitch aggressively and challenge batters.
“I worked a lot during the offseason and during the quarantine and just getting as comfortable and consistent in my mechanics and possible,” Zimmer said. “Like I said, just feeling comfortable physically with what I’m doing is freeing me up mentally to just see a spot and just attack it.”
This season, Zimmer has struck out 20 batters in 17 2/3 innings with eight walks. After Tuesday night’s outing, he dropped his ERA this season to 1.53. Opponents have scratched out a .161 batting average against him.
“That’s just that natural progression, and it happens with position players too to where their main focus is how can I stay on the field, and ‘I just want to make sure I’m healthy,’” Matheny said. “Their focus seems to be so internal that it’s hard to put enough focus on the execution that needs to happen.
“I believe that’s truly where Kyle has been. He’s been fighting for so long just to feel healthy. It’s hard not to have your focus right there on the rubber and not 60 feet, 6 inches away. Last year, I think, was a huge step. They did a great job of just getting him back and feeling strong.”
In 2/3 fewer innings than he pitched last season, Zimmer has thrown 146 fewer pitches, another sign of how much more efficient he has been.
He entered Tuesday night as one of only five MLB relievers not having allow a hit with runners in scoring position this season (with a minimum of 14 at-bats).
“He’s done everything he can do to really put himself in a position where we’d throw him in any place,” Matheny said.
