Healthy Zimmerman sets goal to avoid IL in 16th MLB season

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Ryan Zimmerman has been coming to Florida for 15 springs now, during which time he's taken 740 official plate appearances, amassing 43 homers and 136 RBIs, batting .320 with a .955 OPS.

Suffice it to say, Zimmerman knows the routine. He knows how much work he needs to feel ready for opening day, and that typically is contingent on the physical state of his body.

When he didn't feel 100 percent two springs ago, Zimmerman basically took the entire Grapefruit League schedule off, staying on back fields to get at-bats in the more controlled world of minor league exhibition games. When he did feel healthy again last spring, Zimmerman saw more game action, taking 33 plate appearances.

Not that it translated into better health during the season. Plantar fasciitis in Zimmerman's right foot limited him to 52 games, though he was at full strength in September and throughout the postseason.

That strong finish (capped with a World Series performance that included a home run off Gerrit Cole) allowed the 35-year-old first baseman to go through the winter and report for spring training confident he's physically up to the task he now faces in his 16th big league season.

"My body feels great," he said today after officially reporting to camp. "My body felt great last year, I told you guys that. I don't think there was anything anyone could've done to stop what happened with my foot. It was just something that needed to happen, I guess. When I came back after it tore, I felt great. I felt great all offseason. I worked out and did everything I normally do. I'm just excited to get going."

Zimmerman's goal for 2020 is simple: "Stay off the (injured list). That's pretty much it."

That's easier said than done, of course. Zimmerman has avoided at least a brief trip to the IL only once in the last nine seasons. He has failed to play in at least 100 games in four of the last six seasons.

This year will be different than any previous years for one key reason: The Nationals aren't viewing Zimmerman as an everyday player. With lefty slugger Eric Thames signed over the winter and World Series hero Howie Kendrick re-signed, there are no shortage of quality options at first base. The ideal scenario for Zimmerman: 250 to 300 at-bats, many of those against left-handers.

There was never a doubt in his mind he'd be back. Anyone who thought the "Face of the Franchise" would ride off into the sunset after winning his first World Series title doesn't know what makes him tick.

"Competition is why we're all here," he said. "We all love to compete. And whether we won the World Series last year or didn't make the playoffs, I think we'd come in with the same mindset."

Zimmerman did enjoy this winter a little more than he usually does. While a free agent for the first time in his professional career, he enjoyed suiting up to play goalie for the Capitals one day, hopping aboard a fighter jet for spin through the skies another day.

He also appreciated hearing from countless former teammates who weren't part of the 2019 Nationals but felt like they shared in this championship from afar.

"I keep in a touch with a lot of the guys, especially the guys from when I was first here, the older guys that prepared me," he said. "We'll text or we'll see each other, and a lot of them are coaching different places now, so you stay in touch. Everyone was thrilled for the organization and for the city, for everyone involved. It was kind of cool to hear from those guys and reminisce about that stuff and to see how far we've come."