Carolina notes: Zimmer praises father
A majority of the Lynchburg Hillcats players had retreated to the clubhouse following Sunday's 10-inning loss to the Frederick Keys, save for Bradley Zimmer. The Hillcats outfielder and Indians No. 3 prospect was in shallow left field playing catch with his father, Eric Zimmer, who was in town for the four-game series in Lynchburg.
The two share a special bond, one that was on display as they each threw their best respective pitches to each other. The younger Zimmer wanted to show off his curveball, while his father showcased his knuckleball. There were plenty of laughs between them as the sun beamed over City Stadium.
The father-son bond grew by dad allowing the younger Zimmer to play various sports growing up and not getting him burned out playing baseball year-round. Once Bradley developed a love for baseball, his career on the diamond took off, and he credits much of his success to his father.
"My dad was great growing up as a coach and as a role model," Zimmer said. "And giving us the option of playing whatever we wanted to and enjoy our childhood as an athlete back in the glory days thinking you're going to go professional in any sport. I'm glad I stuck with baseball and can't thank him enough for what he did for me."
The younger Zimmer has shined in his first season with the Class A Advanced Hillcats. He is tied with teammate Luigi Rodriguez for the Carolina League lead in home runs (eight) and has hit safely in 15 of his last 18 games, raising his batting average to .319 in the process.
"It's fun to watch. It is not unexpected to me because he's been a talent, he's been hard-driven -- this is what he loves," Eric Zimmer said. "He luckily found what he gets his attaboys doing and gets after it and just loves every minute."
The elder Zimmer starred at UC San Diego, so baseball was popular in the Zimmer household. His two sons, Kyle and Bradley, both played various sports ranging from soccer and lacrosse to water polo, but baseball was the sport both fell in love with.
Kyle Zimmer, the Kansas City Royals' No. 3 prospect, went to the University of San Francisco and was the Royals' first-round pick in 2012. Bradley followed his footsteps going to USF and was the Indians' first-round pick in 2014.
While Kyle Zimmer is battling injuries to get back on the mound, he has been able to give his younger brother advice on how to handle the everyday grind of a Minor League season.
"I talk to him all the time. We kind of share each other's two cents on how things are going or just what it's like," Bradley Zimmer said. "I think we've communicated about that quite a bit and we both understand how that works now."
In the last 10 games, Zimmer has developed a better approach at the plate and the results have followed. He has six multi-hit games in that span with three home runs and five RBIs. The sizzling stretch has allowed the left-handed hitter to climb to second in the league in batting average and hits, and third in on-base and slugging percentages.
"I think it's definitely been beneficial here so far coming off last year and starting to kind of feel the everyday grind of playing a full season every single day," Zimmer said. "But I'm really happy where I'm at so far here and looking forward to keeping it going with these guys.
"I'm happy with how everything is sorting out. My body feels good so far, so hopefully we can continue that and stay healthy through the season and win some games."
In brief
Tseng outshines Giolito: In a matchup of two of the top pitching prospects in the Carolina League, Myrtle Beach's Jen-Ho Tseng threw six scoreless innings and the Pelicans claimed a 3-0 victory over the Potomac Nationals and Lucas Giolito on Monday night. Tseng, the Chicago Cubs' No. 10 prospect, improved to 2-2 by striking out six and scattering two hits for his first shutout of the season. Giolito, the Washington Nationals' No. 1 prospect, fell to 1-3 in his fourth start since joining the P-Nats in early May. The right-hander pitched five innings for the third time and allowed three runs on five hits.
Putting it together: Salem Red Sox starting pitcher Teddy Stankiewicz didn't necessarily get off to the best of starts to open his Carolina League career. Boston's No. 20 prospect was 0-5 with a 4.14 ERA in his first eight starts, which included four quality starts. But thanks to facing the Carolina Mudcats four times, the right-hander was hard pressed for victories. In his second start against Winston-Salem on Monday, Stankiewicz shined by allowing two hits over eight scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 3.52.
Derailed by the bus accident: The Carolina Mudcats were involved in a significant bus accident travelling from Salem to Myrtle Beach in the early-morning hours of May 12. Six players were placed on the disabled list, but that is only scratching the surface to Carolina's recent struggles. The Mudcats have lost 10 straight contests since resuming play following the accident, the longest losing streak in the Carolina League this season. Carolina is hitting .208 and averaging two runs per game in the stretch, while teams are hitting .279.
Damien Sordelett is a contributor to MiLB.com.
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