Zimmermann healthy and happy to be in mix for roster spot

SARASOTA, Fla. – Powering through a major league lineup can’t be any more difficult for Baltimore native Bruce Zimmermann than pitching with a core muscle injury that necessitated surgery shortly after his minor league season.

Hitters can inflict serious pain. Zimmermann was dealing with the internal kind, managing it with cortisone injections before his Oct. 19 procedure in Philadelphia.

Spring training offers a chance for Zimmermann to further prove that he’s healthy and also compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster. Baseball life is normal again for the Loyola Blakefield graduate, who made seven relief appearances with the Orioles in 2023.

“The first priority of the offseason was just coming out of the surgery successfully, so that went well,” he said yesterday. “The next priority was doing PT (physical therapy) and just getting through the rehab process and getting back the flexibility and strength and things like that.

“Honestly, I wasn’t really doing baseball stuff. This is the first year I’ve done baseball stuff as late as I did, based on just the surgery itself and getting healthy. So, once I got back to late December, January, is when I found I was able to do more baseball-related things.”

Zimmermann posted a 4.73 ERA with the Orioles in 13 1/3 innings, tossing two scoreless frames in his final outing on Sept. 30 against Boston and earning the win. His velocity was done due to his injury, and it became a focal point in his offseason workouts.

“Basically was just trying to add a little more oomph, in a way, to all my stuff, because I liked the shapes and the way they were moving and how I was utilizing them,” he said. “It was just due to the fact I was pitching hurt a little bit that I didn’t have the same velo or pop to those pitches. First thing was just trying to get healthy and strong again and make sure I was ready to compete every day. The last month and a half, since I came down here early, really been trying to dial in the pitches and things like that, that you’d normally do as you’re building up.”

Losing his physical restrictions should allow him to gain miles-per-hour on his fastball.

“Hopefully, it’s just an issue of being healthy. That’s kind of how me and the doctors were talking about it with the PT staff,” Zimmermann said. “I’m already feeling a big difference with how I’ve been moving and how much more athletic I feel compared to where I was at last year at the end of the season.

“Working through the end of last season was definitely one of the harder things I’ve had to navigate in season, because that’s honestly the first big injury/surgery that I’ve ever had in my career. I had the injury kind of like spike in July, and then we managed it from there on out after some cortisone shots, just to get through the season. It’s a gradual repetitive-use injury. It could have been affecting me for a long time, and looking back on it, there were definitely some signs. But with the help of the training staff I was able to pull through the rest of the season and finish it out in pretty good fashion.”

Surgery was discussed in July after Zimmermann’s initial MRI. He said it was probably 70-30 that he’d eventually need it.

“If I got through the season and I was feeling better than I was before, then maybe not,” he said. “Maybe I could just do more rehab. But what they saw with the imaging, it was pretty clear that most likely I was going to have to get surgery.”

Zimmermann started the club’s home opener in 2022. He didn’t pitch for the Orioles last season until June 3, when he spun two scoreless innings with one hit allowed and no walks in San Francisco.

Doors to the 26-man roster this spring swung wide with news that Kyle Bradish and John Means were headed to the injured list. Tyler Wells and Cole Irvin have the inside track on the last two rotation spots, but Zimmermann is in the mix and could settle back into an innings-consuming role in the bullpen. Similar to how Irvin was projected earlier in the winter.

“Those guys are gonna get healthy and they’re gonna come back, but like Hyder (manager Brandon Hyde) always says, 13 guys break camp but it takes 26 guys to win games like we did last year,” Zimmermann said.

“My mind was already set on competing for a job, whether it’s the starting rotation or long relief, which is what I did mostly last year. It didn’t change the aspect of competing for a job, but maybe being able to help in a bigger fashion early on. Whatever I’m available for, I want to be available for, and whenever the team needs me.”