The Career of Henry Zimmerman (OOTP 11)

[51ichiro51]

This is my first dynasty thread here, so criticism/thoughts are always welcome! I'll be following the career of a pitcher named Henry Zimmerman.

For this dynasty I'm using Out of the Park Baseball 11, with a mod called "World of Baseball 2.0" I got off the official boards. It includes all the minor leagues plus major leagues for Japan, Korea, Mexico and Taiwan. It also includes 9 independent leagues: Atlantic, American Association, Northern, Frontier, Can-Am, Golden, United, Continental, and a Japanese indy league.

Basically, it's a huge "universe", and while Henry is currently 18 years old and in the 2010 MLB draft pool, he could end up anywhere. He could quickly rise to the majors, or he could be a complete bust. As a "rule", I won't cheat for him...that means no editing his ratings (he has to develop on his own), and I won't place him on certain teams or call him up. The AI will make all decisions like that. I won't be controlling any team, I'm just watching his progress.

I picked him at random from the draft pool, in case you were wondering.

In my next post I'll begin his story, but until then, here's some info on him:

HENRY ZIMMERMAN, pitcher
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6'1" Weight: 200
Born: June 16, 1991 in Alton, Illinois
School: Marquette High School (Alton, Illinois)

Ratings: (1-100 scale, potential ratings in parentheses)
STUFF: 24(38)
MOVEMENT: 34(34)
CONTROL: 11(35)
STAMINA: 41
GROUNDBALL%: 50%
VELOCITY: 86-88 mph

pitches:
FASTBALL: 31(38)
CURVE: 28(43)
CHANGE: 14(45)
FORKBALL: 23(24)

So...not very good ratings, but he's still young and definitely has time to develop. Definitely needs to work on his velocity, but he should improve in quite a few areas as the years go on.

Like I said, in my next post the story will begin. I'll start on June 15, 2010 (the day of the draft) and see where he ends up.

[bbgunn]

I like OOTP threads. Looking forward to this one.

[51ichiro51]

Note: The Detroit Tigers selected Henry in the 39th round. Looks like he'll be assigned to the GCL Tigers (rookie-league). Opening day for them is June 22.



JUNE 22, 2010

"Zimmerman!", shouted the bullpen coach. "Start warming up!"

Henry tried to contain a huge smile as he nodded and jumped off the bench. It was the top of the 8th, and the GCL Tigers were hosting the GCL Nationals for the season opener. It was a 1-1 tie, and new pitcher Brian Swift had just walked the leadoff hitter.

Henry started to warm up, and couldn't help but notice Brian continuing to struggle. His first pitch to the second batter was hit for a clean single. Runners on 1st and 2nd, still no outs.

The 3rd batter sac-bunted, giving Brian his first out of the inning, but he hit the 4th on the first pitch to load the bases. The Tigers manager went out for a mound visit. It didn't seem to help; poor Brian gave up a single to the next hitter, scoring two. The manager had seen enough, and motioned to the bullpen as he walked out to the mound again. This was it...Henry Zimmerman was about to make his professional debut.


Top 8th, 1 out, runners on 1st and 2nd, Tigers down 1-3. Nationals hitter Bob Meyers stepped up to the plate, and Henry's pro baseball career officially began!

Ball one, fastball missed low. Catcher Cipriano Rivas motioned for another fastball, and Henry nodded. This one hit the strike zone, but unfortunately Meyers hit a sharp grounder to the right for a single. The runner from second scored.

"Not the best way to begin", Henry thought to himself as the next hitter, Ryan Ortiz stepped up to the plate. "Come on henry, you're a pro now...just get this next guy..."

But he didn't. Ortiz walked on a 3-1 pitch. Bases loaded now for Christopher Blackwood, who hit a 2-2 pitch to right for a single, scoring two more. Henry was stunned; he hadn't even recorded an out yet! He looked towards his dugout...his manager was staying put. Henry would get at least one more chance. Luckily, he got Angel Aria to ground softly to first. Henry sprinted to the bag and caught the first baseman's throw. Henry's first out recorded.

Henry got the next batter to pop up to short and the inning was over. But it was one hell of an ugly inning. The Tigers went from tied 1-1 to down 1-6. They did nothing in the bottom of the inning, and Henry was a bit surprised to hear he was being sent out again to work the 9th. He retired the side in order, a much-needed confidence boost.

The Tigers went down 1-2-3 too in the bottom of the inning, giving the Nationals a 6-1 victory. Here's Henry's line:

1.2 ip, 2 h, 1 r, 1 bb, 1 k. Nice recovery on his part in the 9th inning.


another note: Now don't worry, I'm not going to go in-depth like this for every game. that would take forever. I'll update a few times a year, stopping for a special update whenever anything noteworthy happens.

[51ichiro51]

OCTOBER 1, 2010

The season is over, here's Henry's stats for 2010:

                             W-L      G  GS      IP     H     R    ER    BB    SO     ERA
2010-GCL Tigers(R,det)       2-0     10   3    29.0    30    13    11    11    13    3.41
     Lakeland(A,det)         0-0      1   0     1.0     1     1     1     0     2    9.00

He spent most of the year with the GCL Tigers in Lakeland, Florida. He split time between the rotation and bullpen, and apparently impressed enough to receive a little "try-out" at single-A at the end of the season, with the Lakeland Flying Tigers (who actually play in the same stadium as the GCL Tigers)

Pretty decent numbers, but it's still to early to really tell how he's doing. He should get more innings next year, and we can get a better look at him.

[Izulde]

Not a horrible debut season by any means.

[Young Drachma]

Should be interesting to see how he pans out. Good start you've got going here.

[51ichiro51]

JUNE 15, 2011

Exactly a year after his pro career began, Henry was released by the Detroit Tigers organization. He had a rough spring, showed little improvement, and (most importantly) didn't add any mph to his fastball. With another wave of draftees coming in, the Tigers felt he was expendable I guess.


MARCH 23, 2012

After an agonizing 9-month wait, a team has finally come calling. Over the 11-12 offseason, Henry managed to increase his top velocity from 88 to 90. With his improvements in control and movement, he was definitely on the path to bouncing back.

The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League liked what they saw, and signed Henry to a 1-year contract. He was to report to spring training in about a month, ready to compete for a job on the roster.


MAY 12, 2012

Henry makes his season debut in a game at home vs. the Somerset Patriots. In an inning and a third, he strikes out two and doesn't give up a run. The last time he had pitched a regular season game was August 24, 2010 (his only game in single-A). It had been 1 Year, 8 Months, and 19 Days. It was good to be back.


JULY 9, 2012

After a promising start back in May, things started going wrong. Coming into today's game, he had pitched 8.2 innings in 9 games. He gave up 15 Hits and 6 Walks, striking out 7. And the proud owner of an ugly 8.31 ERA.

The Blue Crabs were in Lancaster, PA playing the Barnstormers. They held a safe lead of 7-1 when Henry was brought in to pitch in the top of the 7th.

He quickly struck out the leadoff hitter and got the second out via a weak popup. The next hitter flew out to deep left on a 3-1 pitch, ending the inning.

But the second he threw that last pitch, Henry knew there was something terribly wrong. His elbow was throbbing and wouldn't stop; would only get worse and worse. The diagnosis was a severe elbow strain, knocking him out of action for 3 months. It was a severe blow to his comeback attempt.


With a return set for early October, this unfortunately marks the end of his 2012 season. Here's his updated career stats:

                             W-L      G  GS      IP     H     R    ER    BB    SO     ERA
2010-GCL Tigers(R,det)       2-0     10   3    29.0    30    13    11    11    13    3.41
     Lakeland(A,det)         0-0      1   0     1.0     1     1     1     0     2    9.00
2012-S. Maryland(ind)        0-0     10   0     9.2    15     8     8     6     7    7.45

[51ichiro51]

MARCH 13, 2013

The Grand Piairie AirHogs of the independent American Association signed Henry to a 1-year contract. It looks like he's recovered well from his injury, and over the offseason has increased his velocity and stamina. He'll enter spring training as a starter again, so this is good news.


MAY 20, 2013

Henry made his Grand Prairie debut today, making the start on the road against the Pensacola Pelicans. He kept the Pelicans scoreless through 6 innings and was sent out to work the 7th. He got the first out via a grounder to short, but something went wrong again.

He felt an intense pain in his elbow that, just like last year, kept getting worse and worse. The manager and trainer rushed out when they saw he was in distress, and immediately decided to take him out of the game.

The diagnosis: torn flexor tendon in the elbow. And what's worse: this time it'll take him 10-11 months to recover. This is honestly a crushing blow to an already difficult career, but remember he's only 21 years old. I'm not goving up on him just yet.



So with only one game played this year, I don't have any other updates. But here's his updated stats:

                             W-L      G  GS      IP     H     R    ER    BB    SO     ERA
2010-GCL Tigers(R,det)       2-0     10   3    29.0    30    13    11    11    13    3.41
     Lakeland(A,det)         0-0      1   0     1.0     1     1     1     0     2    9.00
2012-S. Maryland(ind)        0-0     10   0     9.2    15     8     8     6     7    7.45
2013-Grand Prairie(ind)      0-0      1   1     6.1     4     0     0     4     3    0.00

It's been almost 4 years since he was drafted, and he's pitched only 46.0 innings in 22 games. But like I said before, he's still very young. He has a chance to get his career back on track.

[51ichiro51]

APRIL 20, 2014

Surprisingly, Henry recovered very well again. His velocity continues to increase (he tops out around 91-93 now), along with most of his other ratings.

And once again a team has taken notice and signed him to a 1-year deal. Another independent league team, this one is the Gateway Grizzlies off the Frontier League.


JUNE 8, 2014

Well, his first few starts haven't gone very well at all. He's 1-2 with a 7.25 ERA. Looks like he'll make his next start, but I think Gateway might be growing impatient with him.


JULY 21, 2014

He kept his spot in the rotation after struggling early, but he never really impressed and was released today. While this certainly isn't good news, at least this time he didn't get knocked out with some sort of injury. He's gaining experience and actually getting a chance to work out his issues, as opposed to spending all his time on the DL. We'll see if another team comes calling.


OCTOBER 1, 2014

No team decided to pick Henry up, so his stint with Gateway was his only pitching he did this year.

the stats:

                             W-L      G  GS      IP     H     R    ER    BB    SO     ERA
2010-GCL Tigers(R,det)       2-0     10   3    29.0    30    13    11    11    13    3.41
     Lakeland(A,det)         0-0      1   0     1.0     1     1     1     0     2    9.00
2012-S. Maryland(ind)        0-0     10   0     9.2    15     8     8     6     7    7.45
2013-Grand Prairie(ind)      0-0      1   1     6.1     4     0     0     4     3    0.00
2014-Gateway(ind)            2-5     11  11    67.0    75    40     38   20    42    5.10

Not good, but not exactly terrible either. Hopefully he'll improve some more and get another chance. But for now, he's actually healthy! So there is a bright side

[bbgunn]

It's terrible what happened to Henry after that nice GCL start.