Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief
Bob Dutton posted on Twitter that Zimmer could break into the majors as soon as late summer THIS season
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I have a hard time buying that. Here's why:
1) Depth. There are a lot of guys between Zimmer and a rotation spot.
Shields/Guthrie/Santana/Davis/Hochevar/Chen/Mendoza/Smith/Yordano Ventura/Danny Duffy/Felipe Paulino/
Kyle Zimmer or John Lamb
And the bullpen is stacked. Why waste Zimmer's service time bringing him out of the pen?
2) He's still got a long ways to go. The fastball is a plus pitch (And could even become plus-plus if he really masters command of it). But the curve - which has plus potential - is still inconsistent, and his changeup - which varies in potential from MLB average to plus - needs quite a bit of work.
Now, it's possible he puts that all together and tears through the minor leagues. If he's sitting at AAA putting up a sub-2.00 ERA with more than a K/IP and no control issues, then he's clearly ready for the show. But that would be a BIG leap for him (as he's likely to start the year at High-A Wilmington).
You just don't see prospects jump that far, that fast, that often.