6 years agoWashington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman surprised a lot of folks when he hit .303/.358/.573 with a .930 OPS, career-high 36 home runs and 108 RBI in 144 games in 2017. The 34-year-old predictably fell back to Earth last season, hitting just .264/.337/.486 with an .824 OPS, 13 home runs and 51 RBI in 85 games. His bloated .335 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and lofty 26.5 home run/fly-ball rate carried him in his bounce-back 2017 campaign. While he walked more and struck out less last year, his BABIP fell to .284 and his HR/FB rate to 16.5 percent. Being healthy in 2017 also played a big part, but Zimmerman is no spring chicken anymore and has played in over 100 games just three times since 2013 because of injuries. The Nats know this, which is why they went out and signed left-handed hitting Matt Adams to platoon with Zimmerman at first base. At this stage of his career, having him play every day would be detrimental to his overall production. Besides, he's more effective in doses and against left-handed pitchers; he hit .377 against southpaws in 2018 compared to just .228 against righties. Zimmerman can go on hot streaks and squares the ball up occasionally, but his lack of consistent playing time and injury history makes him a corner infield option without much upside in NL-only leagues. RotoBaller has him as the 34th-ranked first baseman in fantasy.--Keith Hernandez - RotoBaller