Kyle Joseph Zimmer (born September 13, 1991) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who is a free agent. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Kansas City Royals from 2019 to 2021. The Royals selected Zimmer in the first round of the

2012 MLB draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto ...

Amateur career

Zimmer was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and grew up in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

and attended

La Jolla High School La Jolla High School (LJHS) is a comprehensive high school for grades 9–12 located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California. Opened in 1922, La Jolla High School (LJHS) is the second-oldest campus in the San Diego Unified School Distric ...

. He played first base, third base, and pitched 22.1 innings during his senior year and was named team MVP after batting .410 with a .492 on-base percentage and a .701 slugging percentage with four home runs and 23 RBI. On the mound, he had a record of 3-3 with a 4.39 ERA. Zimmer was also named to the San Diego All-Academic team with a 4.20 GPA and graduated as a member of the

Cum Laude Society The Cum Laude Society is an organization that honors scholastic achievement at secondary institutions, similar to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which honors scholastic achievements at the university level. It was founded at The Tome School in 19 ...

. Zimmer played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

and committed with the intention of playing third base for the Dons. The Dons moved him to pitcher due to having an all-conference player, Stephen Yarrow, starting at third base. As a freshman in 2010, Zimmer pitched 5.1 innings in five appearances. After his freshman year, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Alexandria Aces of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. In 2011, he was named first team All- West Coast Conference (WCC) after posting a 6-4 record with 89 strikeouts. Following the season, he played for the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League and went 2-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 48 innings pitched. In 2012, Zimmer went 5-3 with a 2.85 ERA and a WCC-leading 104 strikeouts and was again named first team all-conference. Zimmer was inducted into USF's athletic hall of fame in 2020.

Professional career

Minor leagues

The Kansas City Royals selected Zimmer with the fifth overall pick of the

, and he signed with the Royals three days after being drafted. He was assigned to the AZL Royals, and after posting a 0.90 ERA in ten innings, was promoted to the

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play thei ...

, where he pitched to a 2-3 record and 2.43 ERA in six games started. He pitched for the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

and the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark, whic ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in 2013, posting a combined 6-9 record with a 4.32 ERA in 22 games between both teams. His season ended prematurely due to

tendinitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elbo ...

in his biceps. In 2014, he pitched for the

Idaho Falls Chukars The Idaho Falls Chukars are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and play their home games at Melaleuca ...

, going 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 4.2 innings. Zimmer had shoulder surgery in October 2014. Zimmer began 2015 with the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends ha ...

and was later promoted to the

, pitching to a combined 3-5 record, 2.39 ERA, and a 1.14 WHIP in 64 innings. The Royals added Zimmer to their 40-man roster after the 2015 season. In 2016, he pitched only three games due to shoulder fatigue and he underwent surgery, thus ending his 2016 season. Zimmer returned to action in 2017 and pitched for both Northwest Arkansas and the

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, and play their home games at We ...

, posting a combined 5.40 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched between both teams. Prior to the start of the 2018 season, Zimmer was designated for assignment on March 28. He was released on April 4, 2018, then re-signed to a minor league contract two days later. He spent the 2018 rehabilitating. He elected free agency on November 3, 2018. On January 4, 2019, Zimmer re-signed with Kansas City on a major league contract.

Kansas City Royals

He made the Royals' 2019 Opening Day roster. He made his major league debut on March 31, 2019 versus the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, recording one scoreless inning, with two strikeouts. He was optioned to Omaha on April 8. Zimmer bounced between the Royals and AAA Omaha for most of the year, appearing in 15 games with a 10.80

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

at the major league level. With the 2020 Kansas City Royals, Zimmer appeared in 16 games, compiling a 1–0 record with a 1.57 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched. In 2021, he went 4–1 with a 4.83 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 54 innings. Zimmer was designated for assignment on November 19 and was released by the Royals on November 24.

Cincinnati Reds

On March 19, 2022, Zimmer signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. He was released on August 9, 2022.

Personal

Zimmer's younger brother,

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

, is also a baseball player. Zimmer is married to working professional, Haley Zimmer (2021)

References

External links

San Francisco Dons bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmer, Kyle 1991 births Living people People from La Jolla, San Diego Baseball players from California Major League Baseball pitchers Kansas City Royals players San Francisco Dons baseball players Arizona League Royals players Kane County Cougars players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Peoria Javelinas players Idaho Falls Chukars players Omaha Storm Chasers players Cotuit Kettleers players Louisville Bats players