When It Clicked: Nationals RHP Jordan Zimmermann

Jordan Zimmermann has made a career out of coming out of nowhere. He was lightly recruited out of Auberndale (Wisc.) High, developed into a top prospect at Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point, then blitzed through the Washington Nationals' farm system in a mere 22 months from the time he was drafted (second round in June 2007) to his big league debut this April 20.

In other words, the past, say, six years has been a series of rapid-fire "clicks." What was the most critical stage in his development? He says it was the transition from high school to college.

"I don't know if it was one moment, but a lot of things came together my freshman year in college, when I really started lifting [weights] hard. In high school, I didn't lift at all and in college I really started lifting. That's when I saw the velocity go up. And working with my coach there, he showed me a lot of video of other [pitchers], and I pretty much learned that way. And everything came together.

"I got a lot stronger and gained a lot of velocity. In high school, I didn't have good mechanics. I was all arm. I didn't use my lower half at all. When I started learning how to do that, and just got stronger all over, that's when things started coming together.

"I was throwing around 87-88 [mph], and only hitting that once or twice a game, in my senior year in high school. Then I went to college and by the middle of the season my freshman year I was at 90-91. And then by my sophomore year I was 91, 92, 93, and consistently above 90. And my junior year was when I was around 91 to 94. I just kept lifting and stayed after it, and I just kept going up and up and up."