Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals named National League Player of the Week

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann has been named the National League Player of the Week for the week ending June 8th. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Zimmermann was a perfect 2-0 in two starts last week, including a complete-game shutout on Sunday, while posting a 0.00 ERA over 17.0 innings pitched. The hard-throwing righty led the Majors in innings pitched last week and ranked second in the N.L. with 16 strikeouts, allowing just a single free pass. He scattered seven hits and held opposing hitters to a .121 batting average in his two outings.

On Sunday, Zimmermann retired the first 16 San Diego hitters he faced, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning before allowing a single to Alexi Amarista. The 2013 N.L. All-Star finished the day with a two-hit shutout in a 6-0 Nationals victory at Petco Park. Zimmermann fanned 12 in his 9.0 innings of work, tossing 114 pitches (83 strikes) to complete the performance. He became just the second starter in Nationals history (since 2005) to fan at least 12 while not allowing a walk (also: John Patterson, 13 SO, 0 BB on 8/4/2005 vs. LAD). The 12-strikeout effort also put Zimmermann in a class with Patterson and his teammate Stephen Strasburg as the only Nationals to strike out at least 12 batters in a game. The dominant performance in San Diego came on the heels of an impressive outing on Tuesday against Philadelphia. Zimmermann needed just 102 pitches (71 strikes) across 8.0 scoreless innings to earn a 7-0 victory at Nationals Park. He scattered five hits while striking out four and issuing one walk to earn his fourth win of the season. This is the first Player of the Week honor for the five-year veteran, who was originally selected by the Nationals in the second round of the 2007 Draft. Zimmermann becomes the seventh Nats player to garner weekly honors and is the first Washington pitcher to be recognized since Strasburg (June 8-13, 2010).

Other noteworthy performances last week included Curtis Granderson (.370, 4 R, 10 H, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .419 OBP) and Daniel Murphy (.414, 6 R, 12 H, HR, .414 OBP) of the New York Mets; Milwaukee's Jonathan Lucroy (.480, 8 R, 12 H, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .800 SLG, .481 OBP); Arizona's Chris Owings (.381, 2 HR, 9 RBI, .857 SLG); Miami's Henderson Alvarez (1-0, 0.63 ERA, CG, SHO, 10 SO, 14.1 IP); Cincinnati's Homer Bailey (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 14 SO, 14.0 IP); and Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 18 SO, 13.0 IP) of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Jordan Zimmermann will be awarded a watch, courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.