Ryan Zimmerman Quotations

I didn't come up here expecting to play. I am not really surprised. It's just whenever they need me. I am hanging out and learning a bunch of stuff.

I would trade playing five or six more games down there for the experience of coming up here any day, ... You can't come up here at 20 and expect to play every day.

I wouldn't say I am a power hitter. I am a gap-to-gap guy. If I hit one like I did today, so be it.

I don't think anybody gets drafted and thinks they'll be up that year. It just happened.

Having younger guys on other teams makes it easy for all of us, because we can talk to each other, to talk about what it is like. It's hard for young guys sometimes, and there's not too many of us around. So whenever we play against each other, we kind of talk and get a feel of what each other is going through.

I am going to struggle. That's going to be a big part of my year is how I can handle that and how I respond to that, and am I doing it as well as I can?

He was unbelievable tonight. If he can set the table and do that day in and day out, we are going to win a lot more games because of it. If you can be on base, with all the hitters we have in our lineup, it's going to be a big advantage for our team.

I'm a little overwhelmed, but I always felt that I could play in the majors. If you don't have confidence in yourself, you don't have anything.

I saw it good. But I probably tried to hit it too far and didn't put a good swing on it.

I think Jose looks forward to playing every day. I think when you have a rivalry like this, it's exciting and good for the league. It's like the playoffs every time. Both teams want to win that bad.

I was just trying to get on base. He fell behind, 3-0. On 3-1, I had a good pitch to hit, too, and I just missed it foul. He came back with the same pitch and I knew I got it that time.

I think you can check back on my quotes when we drafted him and see that I did.

It barely got me. It didn't do anything. It was funny.

Those kind of comments, you take them in and let them go right out, ... It's certainly an honor to be compared to great players, but I can't be thinking about that when I'm on the field. I just want to relax and play.

It was up to the older guys. I guess they figured I will be in the game for a long time, so they figure I might as well learn what goes on. It will be a good learning experience.

They say your first hit is the hardest to get, ... I'm glad I didn't have to wait too long for mine.

You take it in, and it goes right out, ... If you put a lot of pressure on yourself, you're not going to be able to perform as well as you like. It's an honor to have your name in the same sentences as those guys, but you got to put it behind you and remember what got you here.

I'm not too worried about results right now. I'm just trying to go out and see some live pitching.

If we can all keep doing what we are doing and keep improving it will be fun. Fun to watch us three.

If you put that much pressure on yourself, you are not going to be able to perform as well as you like, ... It's nice to have your name in the same sentence as those guys, but you have to put it behind you and play your game.

It's way too early to start talking about that. It's so early. We're really close to being where we want to be.

He said nothing was wrong with what I said, but it might have come out wrong.

The first part of the spring, I didn't think my arm was in shape yet. My arm is fine and it hasn't been hurting at all. Tonight, I felt great. I feel good on the field. I'm not worried about it at all. I'm ready to go out there and make plays for the pitchers.

It's surreal to see the guys you have been watching all your life and now you have a chance to play against them,

It's a perfect fit and all year long they've been interested. It's almost too perfect to be true.

It's nice. At least I'm not doing it by myself. It will be fun. That's part of the experience.

It's bad breaks. It's not getting the timely hit. We are playing good defense, making those plays, and we just can't really get down on ourselves.

It's fun times. It's part of the experience. All rookies have to do it. Hopefully in a few years, I'll watch other people do it.

It's been a crazy, crazy two months, but it's been exciting,

I can't complain. I am 20 years old up here learning, getting to hang out with these guys and getting to run around with them.

I want to be better every year, just like everyone else does. From what I learned from last year, I feel a lot more comfortable. I know the game and how it goes up here. You get in certain situations the first time, you really don't know what to expect. Now that I've been in them-and I've been in every situation possible last year-there's nothing new to come at me.

But I feel like I can go out there and do what I need to do.

A Gold Glove would be one of the things I would really cherish. When I was younger, I was always smaller. I couldn't hit, so I had to work on defense.

I've gotten stronger, but I don't ever try to hit home runs. I stay with the same approach, just hit line drives. If you get under one and it goes out, it's a home run, but I don't feel any pressure to hit home runs.

A lot of teams aren't going to let me beat them. I just try to do something each game to help us win. If you do something like that, whether it's a walk or a hit, your numbers will be there by the end of the year.

You want to have expectations. I think it makes you work a little bit harder now, and it makes you want to prove to everyone that it wasn't just a one-year thing.

It is nice to have the fans recognize you, not because it makes you feel like a big-time player, but because they enjoy watching baseball and they like watching us play. It's going to get even better being here. Pretty soon, the city could be one of the best places to play.