Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman wins NL Player of the Week award

The Washington Nationals will enter play Tuesday with the highest scoring offense in baseball led by the reigning National League Player of the Week in first baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

Zimmerman posted a .500/.500/1.154 line with 13 hits, five home runs, 13 RBIs and 11 runs scored as the Nats went 4-3 against the Colorado Rockies and New York Mets.

The honor wraps up one of the most prolific months the first baseman has ever had at the plate.

With 24 games under his belt already, Zimmerman leads the majors in batting average (.420), slugging percentage (.886), OPS (1.345), hits (37), RBIs (29) and is tied with Milwaukee Brewers’ first baseman Eric Thames for the top spot in home runs (11).

This is Zimmerman’s fourth career Player of the Week award, but his first since July of the 2012 season.

The MLB has yet to announce the winner of the Player of the Month Awards, but Zimmerman is most likely right in the mix along with Thames and teammate Bryce Harper.

Zimmerman’s award is the second straight Player of the Week honor Washington has received.

Harper won the award last week after hitting .550/.667/1.200 over the previous seven days with four doubles, three home runs, seven RBIs, seven walks and 10 runs scored.

Although the loss of Adam Eaton for the season certainly is a blow to the offense moving forward, Zimmerman’s impressive comeback from a disappointing season a year ago has made the injury bearable.

As Harper and fellow slugger Daniel Murphy both hit left-handed, Nationals manager Dusty Baker has slotted Zimmerman at the cleanup spot so far.

If he continues to hit at the rate he has, there’s little doubt that the former Face of the Franchise will have plenty of opportunities to hit with runners on base ahead of him.