Baker: no "governor" on Zimmerman despite past injury concerns

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman has used his bat, his legs and his athletic ability on defense to get off to a good start in this new season's first week.

Wednesday night, Zimmerman scored the Nationals' first run, tying the game on a grounder off the bat of Wilson Ramos. Running on the pitch, Zimmerman scored from second thanks to a poor relay throw from first to home. Zimmerman dove head first into the plate and was safe. Some fans might have cringed on the play, remembering Zimmerman injuring his thumb in Atlanta last season and missed a lot of games.

An inning earlier, Zimmerman made a leaping catch of a liner off the bat of Freddie Freeman.

On Thursday, Zimmerman scored from first on a three-run triple by Daniel Murphy.

Zimmerman has been aggressive in the field and on the basepaths. So should we worry that maybe he's going too hard based on his foot injury from spring training that was a carryover from last season? What about the thumb or the oblique? Should he take it easy just three games into the season?

"Ryan has been around a long time," said manager Dusty Baker. "He's a professional. How do you put a governor on somebody? They're judgment plays. Like (Wednesday) night he kept running. Second base, boom, he keeps running, that's a great play. He's playing the game the way he's supposed to be playing it. And then a ball went into the dirt, he was alive, went to second, end up scoring. These are things you urge everybody to do.

"He doesn't talk much he just shows you how to play. If you're a young guy and you're watching him and you say, 'Man, if this old dude can do it, I certainly can do it.' He's not old, he's just been around a long time. It's hard to tell someone to go halfway."

It has been pointed toward as a critical key to the success for the Nationals in 2016. Zimmerman needs to stay healthy and needs to stay in the lineup. Batting behind MVP Bryce Harper will go a long way in insuring both get some pitches to hit.

"I'm impressed with Ryan Zimmerman, period," Baker said. "I mean he's a ballplayer. For a guy that has a bad foot, he's been running the bases with daring success. He's made some plays for us. He's driven in runs. He's an outstanding baserunner. That's why we brought in Nick Johnson in spring training on an accelerated curve on being an outstanding first baseman. I am really excited, hopefully to see this guy play all year long because he's a ballplayer. He goes about his business very professionally.

"My friend told me (Zimmerman) had 10 walk-off home runs. I went up in spring training and said, 'C'mon man, is that real?' He told me, 'Yeah!' Every time he goes up there, I'm thinking walk-off."

As for Zimmerman, he is already 4-for-12 (.333) with a double, three runs and two RBIs. He has run well, jumped well and dove into home with no issues. So it doesn't appear that the plantar fasciitis issue is an issue right now. Does it bother him at all?

"Enough to not talk about it anymore after this one," Zimmerman said postgame Thursday. "It feels good. I think we've been doing a good job of staying on top of it. If we continue to do that, hopefully it will be like that the rest of the year. Yeah, it feels good."