Jordan Zimmermann, who pitched for the Nationals in seven of his 13 years in the big leagues and threw the club's first no-hitter, announced his retirement on Tuesday.
Zimmermann, 34, made the announcement on Tuesday after appearing in two games for the Brewers this season.
“I have had the joy of playing the game that I love for the past 15 years,” Zimmermann said. “I will forever be thankful to the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers for allowing me to live out this dream. It has been particularly special to be able to end it all playing for my hometown team, the Milwaukee Brewers.
“Thank you to all of my friends, teammates and family members who have been by my side throughout this incredible journey. I will miss the game greatly, but I’m ready for the new phase of my life.”
The Nationals selected Zimmermann in the second round of the 2007 Draft. He earned All-Star selections in ‘13 and ‘14, and he had a National League-leading 19 wins in ‘13.
“The first six or seven years or whatever I was there, that kind of put me on the map and got my career going,” Zimmermann said. “I remember getting there, [the] first couple of years, we were losing 100 games. To be able to turn that around and have some winning ballclubs and go to the playoffs a few times is something I’ll never forget.”
Zimmermann put his stamp on Nats’ history when he tossed their first no-hitter on Sept. 28, 2014, in a 1-0 win over the Marlins in Washington. That afternoon, he was in command with 10 strikeouts and only one walk over 104 pitches. The game was capped off by a backward-diving Steven Souza, Jr. making an over-the-shoulder catch against Christian Yelich to seal the milestone.
“Even when I first got called up, I thought there was no way this would ever happen,” Zimmermann said at the time. “My career numbers are something like one hit per inning, so I figure if I can make it out of the first, the hit’s coming in the second. But today was one of those special days.”
Zimmermann went 70-50 with a 3.32 ERA and 903 strikeouts over 178 starts for the Nationals. He went on to play for the Tigers from 2016-20, and this season with his hometown Brewers. Zimmermann posted a career record of 95-91 with a 4.07 ERA.