Detroit Tigers: Former starter Jordan Zimmermann retires

The Detroit Tigers signed Jordan Zimmermann to a five-year, $110 million contract back in 2016. The vision was that he would be the Tigers ace and be “Max Scherzer,” but instead, the Nationals got Max Scherzer, and the Tigers got J-Zim.

While it was not a trade, it was an unofficial swap through free agency that the Tigers definitely got the worst end of. While there were other factors in not re-signing Max Scherzer, signing Zimmermann proved to be one of the worst decisions of the front office.

The Tigers did not make a good choice with Zimmerman; he struggled through five seasons in the Motor City. After his contract ran out, he opted to sign a new one with the Milwaukee Brewers. It would be short-lived as he has made a new announcement in regards to his future in baseball.

Zimmermann announced that he was calling it quits after 13 seasons in Major League Baseball. Since the 2016 season, his first in Detroit, he just has not been the same pitcher he once was in the Nationals organization.

Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Jordan Zimmermann has retired after 13 seasons.

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As was mentioned above, his best season was his first in the Tigers organization. Zimmermann’s 2016 season had a 9-7 record with a 4.87 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP.

The issue with this was that his next season, Zimmermann had an ERA north of 6.00, and he led the league in earned runs.

Not exactly something to be proud of, but Zimmermann struggled through his time in Detroit.

He did have quite the payday either way, which was a fault on ownership.

His 13-year big-league season was not bad; it is just that the second half was atrocious.

While in Detroit, Zimmermann finished his Tigers career with five seasons, a 25-41, a 5.63 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP.

He was not the best decision the Tigers made, but he did have a fine career overall. With the Nationals, he was a steady arm during his career.

He may not have always been the pitcher the Tigers had hoped for, but he finishes his 13-year career with a 95-91 record, a 4.07 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, and 903 career punchouts over 1614.0 innings-pitched.

While he was not the pitcher the Tiger envisioned when they signed him, Zimmermann has capped off his career and called it quits. Congrats to Zimmermann on a thirteen-year career in the big leagues, finishing out his career in the Brewers organization at 35 years old.

He was not the pitcher the Tigers hoped for, but he was a two-time all-star who also has a no-hitter to his credit. Congrats to J-Zim.