Bruce Zimmermann Sharp, but Memphis Bats Go Quiet in the Night
Cardinal Chronicle
Minor League Pitcher of the Day
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Bruce Zimmermann Sharp, but Memphis Bats Go Quiet in the Night
Bruce Zimmermann gave Memphis everything it needed Wednesday night.
The Redbirds just could not give him a run.
Zimmermann was outstanding in Memphis’ 2-0, extra-inning loss to the Charlotte Knights at AutoZone Park, working six shutout innings while allowing four hits and one walk with six strikeouts. It was the kind of veteran left-handed start that usually sends a club to the handshake line.
Instead, it became one of those frustrating pitching lines that looks even better the morning after.
Zimmermann controlled the game from the mound. He worked efficiently, limited traffic and kept Charlotte off the scoreboard through six innings. After a long rain delay before first pitch and a shortened seven-inning setup, Zimmermann gave the Redbirds exactly the kind of steady outing they needed.
The problem was not on the mound.
Memphis managed only two hits and never found a way to push across a run. Noah Mendlinger singled and walked, and Colton Ledbetter added the other Redbirds hit, but the offense never built the kind of inning needed to support Zimmermann’s work.
That is the hard part of baseball. A pitcher can do his job almost perfectly and still walk away with nothing to show for it in the win column.
But the win-loss record does not tell the story here.
Zimmermann extended his strong stretch by allowing three runs or fewer for the sixth consecutive start and for the 12th time in 15 outings this season. That kind of consistency matters, especially at Triple-A, where experienced hitters can punish mistakes and lineups are filled with players one phone call from the major leagues.
This was a professional start from a pitcher, an MLB Veteran, who understood the assignment. Get the ball. Throw strikes. Keep the game under control. Give your team a chance.
Zimmermann did all of that.
The Redbirds eventually lost it in the eighth, after Charlotte scratched across two runs in a game that had been scoreless through regulation. It was a tough ending, but it should not take away from what Zimmermann did.
On a night when the Cardinals’ full-season affiliates went 1-2 with one postponement, Zimmermann’s six scoreless innings stood as the best pitching performance in the system.
That is why Bruce Zimmermann is the Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Pitcher of the Day.
Old School Take: A pitcher cannot swing the bats for his club. Bruce Zimmermann did his job and then some. Six shutout innings, six strikeouts and one walk should win most nights. This time, it just went unrewarded.
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Photo Credit: Bruce Zimmerman, Memphis Redbirds | Kirby Lee, USA Today Sports