Health is Ryan Zimmerman's real issue in 2016

VIERA, Fla. - So far in this first week of spring training, nearly all discussion of Ryan Zimmerman has been focused on his attempt to clear his name in the wake of Al Jazeera America's controversial documentary naming him as a receiver of performance enhancing drugs.

Zimmerman spent roughly 20 minutes Tuesday answering question after question about that documentary and the subsequent defamation lawsuit he and the Phillies' Ryan Howard have filed against Al Jazeera, one of the network's reporters and the British hurdler who while undercover got a pharmacist to say he supplied Zimmerman with PEDs. (That pharmacist wound up recanting his claims after learning he had been secretly recorded.)

From a baseball standpoint, though, there's a much bigger issue regarding Zimmerman: His ability to stay healthy over a full season and contribute something close to his full potential to the Nationals.

It's been a frustrating couple of years for Zimmerman, who had already dealt with his share of nagging injuries over the bulk of his career. Things took a particular turn for the worse in 2014-15, though, when a broken thumb, torn hamstring, plantar fasciitis and a strained oblique limited him to a combined 156 games over a two-year stretch.

Because of the significant injury history, many seem to forget just how good a ballplayer Zimmerman is. Combine his 2014 and 2015 stats over those 156 games, you end up with 21 homers, 44 doubles, 111 RBIs and a .780 OPS.

And remember, he played a decent number of those games either with nagging shoulder or foot pain. Once he returned from the foot injury late last summer, he proceeded to hit .311 with 11 homers, a .372 on-base percentage and a 1.024 OPS over his final 39 games.

"Before the oblique, I felt like I was playing the best I was playing since probably '08-'09 when I was playing like I should be playing," Zimmerman said. "It was nice to come back and get that confidence. Now it's just a matter of getting rid of those little injuries, and that's what we've been concentrating on this offseason."

Zimmerman altered his offseason workout regimen, putting less emphasis on weightlifting and more emphasis on flexibility in an attempt to avoid the kind of muscle injuries that have plagued him on and off over the years.

It can't be overstated how important Zimmerman, now 31, is to the Nationals as currently constructed. He has proven just how productive he is when healthy and in the lineup. He's the ideal candidate to hit behind Bryce Harper, a position that allows him both to drive in the reigning National League Most Valuable Player when he's on base in front of him while also forcing opposing managers to consider whether they can afford to pitch around him.

The question is whether Zimmerman can do what's necessary to keep himself in that lineup without interruption this season.