Kansas City Royals pitcher Kyle Zimmer found footing in 2020, eyes next step in 2021
If there’s one Royals player who knows better than to take even a shortened season for granted, right-handed reliever Kyle Zimmer might be that guy.
Zimmer, 29, pitched in more games last season than the previous year despite the pandemic-shortened schedule. The former first round draft pick (No. 5 overall in 2012) also made his first start, albeit as an “opener,” and earned his first win in the majors.
Zimmer, having pushed through an injury-plagued career in the minors, finally had a healthy year in the majors with success to build upon. That gave him a different outlook this winter and a renewed sense of confidence heading into this spring training camp.
Asked if he’s as confident as he has ever been coming into a season, Zimmer said, “I think so, just coming off the success of last year, knowing that, one, I’m healthy, and, two, my stuff plays at the level I want to be striving and succeeding at. So I think that helped going into training, just having that confidence coming into this camp still hungry to compete and hungry to get better and better.”
In 2019, Zimmer made his MLB debut after an emotional tenure in the Royals’ farm system. A former top draft pick with an electric fastball, injuries and health issues threatened to stop his career well before he got close to his big-league dreams.
The 6-foot-3 California native endured four surgeries over the course of six minor-league seasons before he went to Seattle and worked with trainers, analytical people and biomechanics experts at Driveline Baseball.
Zimmer battled command issues while with the big club in 2019. He appeared in 15 games and posted a 10.80 ERA with more walks (19) than strikeouts (18) and a 2.56 WHIP in 18 1/3 innings.
But last year he made big strides. In 16 games in 2020, Zimmer posted a 1.57 ERA, 10 walks, 26 strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP in 23 innings.
Of course, this year his task will be to carry that sort of success over to a 162-game season.
“Consistency,” Zimmer said of the key to performing for a full-length season. “There’s multiple facets to that. I think having your mental game right (is important), which is something we work on constantly. And obviously, physically.
“That just is hard work. Bottom line, just getting your body in the best place that it can be to be available every single day. That’s my goal is to be able to go out there every day and compete and let them know I’m good to be used on a daily basis.”
Last year, Zimmer worked his way into a more prominent position within the bullpen and earned the trust of the coaching staff and manager Mike Matheny. He hopes to continue to prove himself in even more crucial situations this season.
“I think he built on what he did last year and some of the improvements that he made,” Matheny said of Zimmer’s camp thus far. “You just watch a guy that proved to himself last year that he belonged.
“That’s such a huge step for guys to then really progress from. But it’s one that you have to have first. I think he needed to see that himself, and how he gained in position in our pen last year too. All of that really gave him what I would consider his first real full year, even though it was a partial year.”
While so much of Zimmer’s previous years had been devoted to simply trying to get and remain healthy, the improved performance from 2019 to 2020 may have been transformative.
For Matheny, the mental hurdles cleared and strides made were clearly evident in players like Zimmer by the end of the season. Doing it in the majors is different than any success or accomplishments piled up in the farm system, and it carries more weight in a player’s own mind.
“That’s what you’re always hoping for,” Matheny said. “It’s the first step to becoming a true major-leaguer. It’s not just showing up or being put on the team. It’s really believing. … I’ve been tried, and I’ve had some struggles and I’ve still been able to survive. Now, I’m ready to start to thrive. I think it’s something that you can only have happen at this level.”
