Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was officially named the National League Player of the Week for the week ending July 22. Zimmerman started all eight games that Washington played this week, including both ends of Saturday's doubleheader against Atlanta.
In those eight games, Zimmerman reached base safely in 20 of 35 plate appearances (.571 on base percentage) and hit safely in 15 of 30 official at-bats. Zimmerman also hit five homers and drove in eight runs, recording a slugging percentage of 1.067 and an OPS of 1.638.
Zimmerman's dizzying ascent up the National League batting charts means that a key moment in Washington's season might have come on June 24.
That's when Zimmerman received a cortisone shot prior to the Nats' game against Baltimore. At the time, Zimmerman's so-called "slash stats" (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS) were as follows: .223, .289, .308, .597.
Now, here are Zimmerman's numbers since getting the shot: .392 batting average, .451 on-base percentage, .804 slugging percentage (20 extra-base hits, including 11 home runs), 1.255 OPS.
And here he is since July 1, for all you Player of the Month voters: .414 batting average, .481 on-base percentage, .886 slugging percentage (15 extra-base hits, including 9 home runs), 1.367 OPS.
Cortisone: Gotta get us some of that.
