It’s hard to believe, but we have finally reached the end of ATVL’s offseason top players writeups!
Before we start with Mr. Zimmerman, let’s see who finished 1st on this list in the past:
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2017- Thomas Sutera, Purcellville
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2016- Zach Neff, Waynesboro
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2015- Patrick Wiseman, Harrisonburg
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2014- Reece Karalus, Aldie
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2013- Adam Zipko, New Market
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2012- Shay Maltese, Haymarket
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2011- Patrick Christensen, Harrisonburg
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2010- Zach Blatt, Luray
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2009- Brian Burgess, New Market
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2008- Dan Gentzler, New Market
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2007- Jimmy Stanley, Waynesboro
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That’s right- two Cannons in a row, because our best reliever in the 2018 Valley League season is Fordham’s Anthony Zimmerman!
A big, 6-foot-5, 245 pound righthanded senior, Anthony just blasted through the Valley League last summer:
| Pur | ERA | W | L | G | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | BAVG | WIP | BB/9 | K/9 |
| 2018 | 0.55 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 16.3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 33 | 0.121 | 0.675 | 2.2 | 18.2 |
| Play | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.200 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 27.0 |
Among pitchers on the top relievers list, Anthony finished 1st in ERA, WHIP, and K/9, 2nd in batting average against, and tied for 7th in BB/9. He threw an inning in the All-Star game and Prospect Showcase, and struck out 5 batters in those 2 innings. He didn’t give up a run, either earned or unearned, in his first 12 league appearances, and the only time in which he was dinged was when the Lumberjacks got him in the 9th inning on July 27th. He was named 1st team All-Valley, and Baseball America named him the #9 prospect in the league. He was truly dominating.
Cannon Coach Brett Fuller had this to say about his workhorse: “Zimmerman came to us with a live arm and pinpoint control. We gave him the opportunity to be our closer and he excelled. Excellent fastball to go with a hard slider and good change… Guy that should grade out as a draft prospect.” Indeed.
Anthony pitched for the Grand River Loggers of the Great Lakes Collegiate League in the summer of 2017, where he went 1-2, 9.00, with a 2.09 WHIP, 5.9 BB/9, and 9.8 K/9 in 23 innings pitched.
Here are his stats from Fordham:
| Ford | ERA | W | L | G | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | WIP | BB/9 | K/9 |
| 2016 | 7.98 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 14.7 | 18 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 2.109 | 8.0 | 2.4 |
| 2017 | 4.15 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.7 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 2.069 | 6.2 | 8.3 |
| 2018 | 7.00 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 9.0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 1.889 | 7.0 | 13.0 |
Watch for Anthony to have an excellent 2019 season in school, and earn some pro interest next June. Congratulations for your amazing summer!
[…] #1 Reliever: Anthony Zimmerman: The most recent article on this list, Anthony went viral from just a couple days ago. […]