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Ryan Zimmerman named National League Player of the Month

Posted at 2:35 PM, May 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-03 14:36:33-04

Ryan Zimmerman hits a home run against the New York Mets. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nationals communications) – On the heels of his first National League Player of the Week award since 2012, Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, a Virginia Beach native (Kellam High School), continued his early-season haul with the National League Player of the Month award for April. Major League Baseball made the announcement on Wednesday on MLB Network.

Zimmerman, who set a Nationals record (2005-present) for RBI in a month with 29, entered May hitting .420 and leading the Major Leagues in batting average, slugging percentage (.886), RBI (29), OPS (1.345), home runs (T1st, 11), hits (37), and extra-base hits (1st, 19), while ranking second in multi-hit games (T2nd, 12).

With 11 home runs in the season’s first month, Zimmerman set the franchise record for home runs in the month of March/April, and tied his own career best for home runs in any single month. The 11 home runs marked Zimmerman’s first calendar month with that many longballs since September 2013, when he also hit 11.

Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

The first pick the Nationals ever made in the draft (No. 4 overall, 2005), Zimmerman holds the Nationals (2005-present) records for games (1,433), runs (815), hits (1,542), doubles (346), home runs (226), RBI (858), and walks (545). He opens play on Wednesday just 10 home runs away from taking over first place on the franchise’s all-time home run list (Vladimir Guerrero, 235).

This is the first National League Player of the Month award of Zimmerman’s career. The Nationals’ longest-tenured player joins teammates Jayson Werth (July 2013; July 2014), Bryce Harper (May 2015; April 2016), and Daniel Murphy (May & July 2016) as Nationals honorees of the league’s monthly award.

Zimmerman, who was also named the NL Player of the Week for April 24–30,has had a big week. On Monday, the first baseman’s foundation raised $200,000 at his eighth-annual A Night At The Park fundraiser for the ziMS foundation.