Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman deserves second All-Star nod... VOTE ZIM!

With his 15th home run of the season on Wednesday night, Ryan Zimmerman matched his total for 2016 just 50 games and 195 plate appearances into his 2017 campaign.

Zimmmerman hit 15 homers in a total of 115 games and 467 plate appearances in 2016.

He’s also one double shy of his 2016 total right now (17 vs 18) and he is currently, after he went 1 for 4 in series finale in AT&T Park, sporting a .368/.409/.709 line on the year.

Zimmerman leads qualified NL first baseman in home runs (tied with Miami’s Justin Bour), he’s third in runs scored (with 35), is first in AVG, fifth in OBP, second in SLG, has the highest BABIP (.409), the second-highest wOBA (.464), second-most wRC+ (190), and is tied for third in fWAR (2.0).

FWIW: Cubs’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who currently leads the voting for the NL’s All-Star starter at first, (452,620 votes to Zimmerman’s 359,055), has a .227/.362/.448 line, (good for 11th/8th/11th amongst qualified first baseman), 12 HRs (tied for 8th), 28 runs scored (8th), a .206 BABIP (13th), .347 wOBA (9th), and 114 wRC+ (9th), in 51 games and 235 PAs, over which he’s been worth 0.9 fWAR (8th).

But, you know, fan voting. At least it doesn’t count for home field advantage in the World Series anymore.

Zimmerman took a while to get from his 13th to his 14th home run, and went 15 for 62 (.242/.284/.306) in an 18-game, 15-start, homer-less stretch between May 7th and 28th, but has now hit two in his last three games and over the last ten games, going back to the second of three with Atlanta in SunTrust Stadium on May 20th, he’s gone 13 for 38 (.342/.366/.526).

After his three-run blast powered the Nationals’ 3-1 win in the finale with the Giants, Nats’ skipper Dusty Baker was asked if he sensed that Zim was heating back up again.

“He never really cooled down, really, he’s hitting .370-something,” Baker said.

“He had a couple games there where he only got a couple singles. We’ll take that. He doesn’t like making outs. I can’t imagine how he felt last year, making outs when he knows what a great player and hitter that he is, and I’m just so happy for him.

Harper, Strickland, Baker, and Bochy talk brawl in AT&T Park:

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

LINK: Nationals and Giants talk Harper/Strickland HBP/brawl in AT&T

“We’ve just got to keep him healthy and when the season started I told you I thought he was my pick to click, you know what I mean, and he’s making us all look good.”

Do you care if Zimmerman starts in the All-Star Game? Barring injury, or a month-long slump (and it would take a serious one to knock his numbers down), he’s likely to play anyway, in what would be his second appearance in the Midsummer Classic.

If he’s put on the NL roster, elected by the his peers, managers, and coaches league-wide, would that mean more than winning the fan voting, which is, shall we say, uh, ridiculous?

You can still try to vote Zim in if you like... VOTE HERE.

More importantly, the Nationals just have to hope he can stay healthy, because he’s back to being a difference-maker in the lineup again early this season.