Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman wins NL Player of the Month Award for April...

Who is this Ryan Zimmerman and what did he do with 2016 Ryan Zimmerman?

This afternoon, the Washington Nationals’ first baseman was named the NL Player of the month after the 32-year-old infielder put up a .420/.458/.886 line, eight doubles and 11 HRs in 24 games and 96 plate appearances in April.

As the Nationals noted in a press release on the award, Zimmerman, who, “... set a Nationals record (2005-present) for RBI in a month with 29 [in April], entered May hitting .420 and leading the Major Leagues in batting average, slugging percentage (.886), RBI (29), OPS (1.345), home runs (T1st, 11), hits (37), and extra-base hits (1st, 19), while ranking second in multi-hit games (T2nd, 12).”

The NL Player of the Month award is the first of Zimmerman’s career.

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Dusty Baker told reporters earlier this month that Zimmerman’s success was made a big difference for the entire team.

“It’s great to see Zim have his success,” he said, “because he was used to success. He had success before I got here and it’s a beautiful thing to see him doing well, hitting the ball on a line, he’s not missing pitches, he’s not going after bad pitches most of the time, man, it’s great to see it, everybody loves it and he invigorates a lot of life in the team.”

Zimmerman won the NL Player of the Week for the past week as well after he went 13 for 26 with two doubles, five home runs, 13 RBIs, a walk and 11 runs scored.

In winning the NL Player of the Month Award, Zimmerman joins teammates Jayson Werth (July 2013 and July 2014), Bryce Harper (May 2015 and April 2016), and Daniel Murphy (May and July 2016) as Nationals who have won the NL Player of the Month award.