MILWAUKEE — This time, he’s sure. Jordan Zimmermann is retiring from Major League Baseball.
Zimmermann, the pride of Auburndale, Wis., and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, who made a pair of All-Star teams with the Nationals, twice garnered National League Cy Young Award votes and once led the NL in wins before struggling to shoulder the expectations of a $110 million contract with Detroit, made the announcement on Tuesday morning via the Brewers, the team he cheered on as a boy.
He’d signed a Minor League deal with his home-state team in February to attempt a comeback, but pitched only twice for the Brewers in relief before hanging up his spikes for good.
Zimmermann’s announcement came 12 days shy of his 35th birthday.
“I have had the joy of playing the game that I love for the past 15 years,” said Zimmermann, who was Washington’s second-round draft pick in 2007. “I will forever be thankful to the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers for allowing me to live out this dream. It has been particularly special to be able to end it all playing for my hometown team, the Milwaukee Brewers.
“Thank you to all of my friends, teammates and family members who have been by my side throughout this incredible journey. I will miss the game greatly, but I’m ready for the new phase of my life.”
He’d been contemplating retirement for a while. Zimmermann stuck with the Brewers’ Alternate Site squad to begin the season, making the 90-minute commute from his home to Appleton, Wis., on days he pitched once that site opened in the second week of April. By the end of the month, he was weary of the trek, instructed his agent to inform the Brewers he was retiring, and drove up north to a riverfront property to fish and ponder his next step.
Turns out, the next step was the big leagues. Right out of a movie script, the Brewers purchased Zimmermann’s contract the next day and called him up to the big leagues, so Zimmermann put retirement on hold.
But every story doesn’t get a fairy tale ending. Zimmermann pitched twice for the Brewers, becoming the 11th Wisconsin-born player to appear for the Crew when he allowed five earned runs in 3 2/3 innings of a blowout loss to the Dodgers at American Family Field on May 2. His only other appearance was Friday at Miami, when he allowed three runs (none earned) in two innings of a 6-1 loss. Zimmermann’s average four-seam fastball this year was 89.7 mph, down from a peak of 94.7 mph in 2014, when he made a second straight NL All-Star team and was on his way to a 2.66 ERA in 199 2/3 innings.
All told, Zimmermann was 95-91 with a 4.07 ERA in 279 games (275 starts) spanning more than 1,600 innings and parts of 13 Major League seasons. That includes a 70-50 record with a 3.32 ERA in 178 starts for the Nationals — including a no-hitter in 2014, their first since the franchise moved from Montreal — and a 25-41 record with a 5.63 ERA in 97 starts plus two relief appearances for the Tigers. He then finished his career with the Brewers.
“On behalf of the entire organization, I would like to congratulate Jordan on a long and distinguished career,” said Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns in the team’s statement. “We are thrilled that Jordan was ultimately able to wear the uniform of his hometown team, and we wish he and his family all the best in retirement.”
Zimmermann’s career 20.3 bWAR is 11th-highest in history for a pitcher born in Wisconsin.
