Bradley

Zimmer

With the Rockies’ acquisition of Jake Cave on Sunday, there was simply no longer room for Zimmer on the team’s Opening Day roster. Zimmer had an awfully strong showing in Cactus League play though — hitting .378 (17-for-45) with one homer, four RBI, four stolen bases and an 18/4 K/BB ratio in 49 plate appearances. Perhaps it’ll be enough to pique another team’s interest and he’ll land on his feet shortly.

With Sam Hilliard going on waivers, Zimmer appears set to make the Rockies as a fourth outfielder. The .378 average in 45 at-bats this spring apparently outweighs the fact that he’s come in at .192/.295/.300 in 529 major league plate appearances since 2019 or that he hit .210/.326/.346 in the minors last year.

The 31-year-old non-roster invitee has been awfully impressive in Rockies’ camp thus far, and that continued on Friday. Zimmer smacked an RBI single off of Bryan Woo in the opening inning and swiped second base, but wound up getting stranded at third. He then hammered a go-ahead solo homer off of Joey Krehbiel in the fifth inning to put the Rockies on top 6-5. The former top prospect is hitting a blistering .438 (7-for-16) with a homer, two RBI and a pair of stolen bases through his first seven spring games, and if he keeps this up, he’s going to play his way onto the Opening Day roster.

Zimmer drew a start in center field for the Rockies on Tuesday afternoon. After going down on strikes in his first at-bat, the 31-year-old outfielder worked a one-out walk from Jake Brentz in the fourth inning, but the Rockies couldn’t cash him in. He then smacked a one-out double off of Matt Sauer in the sixth inning but wound up stranded at third. Zimmer is now hitting .556 (5-for-9) with a run scored and a stolen base through his first four Cactus League contests. If he keeps it up, he just may find himself on the squad’s Opening Day roster.

Zimmer, 31, spent last year playing in Triple-A for the Dodgers and Red Sox, batting just .210/.326/.346 and striking out 37% of the time. He can still play defense, but he’s not a major leaguer these days.

The 30-year-old outfielder had hit just .219/.322/.343 with three homers, 14 RBI and eight stolen bases in 31 games at Triple-A Oklahoma City before being released by the Dodgers. He’ll add minor league outfield depth for the Red Sox.

Roberts also mentioned that non-roster invitee Jason Heyward will get opportunities this spring in center field. Los Angeles has plenty of options in addition to Taylor and Heyward, including Trayce Thompson, James Outman and Bradley Zimmer. We’ll see how it shakes out in time, but at the moment, Taylor feels like the only surefire lock to make the season-opening roster.

As currently constructed, the Dodgers’ roster has a surprising amount of holes, including shortstop and center field. Ardaya adds that it’s possible offseason additions Jason Heyward, Bradley Zimmer or Steven Duggar factor into the center field mix, but Thompson and Outman appear to be the likely favorites to platoon there this season. Barring a late-offseason addition, Outman would be the most intriguing from a fantasy perspective. The 25-year-old prospect has some serious contact issues, but displayed some serious offensive upside last year between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, batting .294/.392/.586 with 31 homers and 13 stolen bases in 559 plate appearances.

Zimmer ping-ponged between the minors and majors last year for both the Phillies and Blue Jays before being non-tendered last month by Toronto. Once a top prospect with the Guardians, the 30-year-old outfielder batted just .124/.207/.229 with a 45/5 K/BB ratio in 117 plate appearances last year. He’ll serve as emergency outfield depth for the Dodgers this upcoming season.

The move comes three days after he was designated for assignment. Zimmer had three times as many strikeouts (45) as hit (13) in 117 plate appearances for the Blue Jays and Phillies last season. He’s a fine center fielder and he can run, but there’s just too much swing and miss to his game.