Kansas City Royals get back one of their key bullpen pieces in pitcher Kyle Zimmer
Kyle Zimmer has been through enough injuries, ailments and surgeries for a lifetime. That’s why the Kansas City Royals right-handed reliever has a keen sense of when a physical issue warrants serious worry and when it doesn’t.
Luckily for Zimmer, his latest stint on the injured list fell into the category of frustrating as opposed to worrisome. Friday night marked his first appearance since returning from the IL with a left trapezius strain that sidelined him since May 1.
He tossed one scoreless inning with one strikeout and one hit in his first major-league outing since April 28. He’d made two appearances in minor-league games during his rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha.
“It’s a lot more of a controlled environment when you’re on rehab assignment,” Zimmer said on Saturday. “Here, the reins are off and it’s back to just going out and competing and getting outs. It was great to get back out there and get a feel back again for falling back into that normal routine out in the bullpen.”
Zimmer, 29, still wasn’t sure what caused the trap issue. He speculated he might have slept wrong on his side.
He’d felt a knot in his back/shoulder area for a few days but felt it “wasn’t anything to raise alarms about.” He simply stretched it out and went about his business. Well, until he couldn’t.
It started “pinching and grabbing” and then during his postgame routine following the first game of a three-day weekend series in Minnesota on April 30, he was in the weight room when he felt more than a knot.
“It felt like I got stabbed all of a sudden and just completely locked up,” Zimmer said.
This season, Zimmer has been one of the relievers manager Mike Matheny has counted on to pitch in high-leverage situations that can flip the game’s outcome in either direction.
Zimmer headed into Saturday afternoon’s game with a 3.14 ERA and a 2-0 record in 12 games. He recorded a save and two holds while holding opposing hitters to a .170 batting average and registering a 0.91 WHIP with five walks and 13 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings.
A former first-round draft pick (fifth overall in 2012), injuries derailed Zimmer throughout his career in the minors leading up to his MLB debut in 2019. At times, his professional career was in doubt.
However, this time was much different if for no other reason than the issue was not related to his throwing arm.
“There was no anxiety as far as getting over it because it wasn’t my right side at all,” Zimmer said. “My arm felt great. There’s some anxiety and stress when your throwing arm is not feeling good because you don’t really know what’s going to happen.
“But I wasn’t too worried because everything else arm-wise felt great. So it was more just frustrating than anything else, just not being able to do anything when your neck is so locked up.”
In this case, it was a hurry up and wait scenario for the first few days. Zimmer’s initial instructions from the trainers was basically to sit tight until the things calmed down with the muscles that locked up. Until that settled, he really couldn’t do much of anything.
“Weird things happen when you use your body for a living, and so it’s something I just had to deal with, slow down and trust the process,” Zimmer said. “I got over the hump, and it’s good to be back.”
Brother v. Brother
The rehab assignment did set up the highly-anticipated first head-to-head match-up between him and his brother Bradley as professionals.
Bradley, an outfielder in the Cleveland Indians organization, and Zimmer missed matching up last season when both made the Opening Day rosters of their respective teams in the shortened 60-game season.
The Royals opened the 2020 season in Cleveland, and their families were both in town for the occasion. The two had trained together during the pandemic shutdown.
Both played in the series, but they did not face each other.
In the eighth inning of a Triple-A game on May 12 in Columbus, Ohio, Zimmer faced Bradley and gave up a single to left field. A runner was thrown out at third base on the play to end the inning. Zimmer ended up with the win in the game, but Bradley grabbed bragging rights.
“I gave him a cookie. He had been struggling a little bit, so I wanted to get his confidence up,” Zimmer said of his younger brother. “He won’t see another two-strike fastball when we face again. It was cool. You see him strolling up to the plate and it’s hard not to just start laughing and start looking at each other.
“It was very cool. I was hoping the first time we faced each other would be in the big leagues, but we got the first one out of the way. Now, I’ve got him right where I want him. He’s got his confidence too high, maybe a little cocky. I’ll catch him slipping when we face each other, hopefully in the big leagues, next time.”
While their family wasn’t in attendance, Zimmer said they were watching online and “loving it.”
“Hopefully, next time will be in the big leagues and family will be there and I can strike him out and laugh at him on his way back to the dugout.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2021 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Kansas City Royals get back one of their key bullpen pieces in pitcher Kyle Zimmer."
