“We went through some things last year,” Zimmerman said. “They did a good job of getting me healthy enough to contribute. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t work, and it was frustrating for everyone involved, I think, myself included. Those are the things you do. The team we had last year and the way that we were playing, there was no way that I wasn’t going to play.”

Last year at this time, Zimmerman was engaged in contract negotiations that resulted in a six-year, $100 million extension. When doctors conferred on how to treat his shoulder, Zimmerman said, General Manager Mike Rizzo demanded it would not place his future at risk. Zimmerman insists the injury and the surgery never threatened his career.

So he played though it. He was not about to let the franchise push for the playoffs without him. It didn’t always look good, and it made him more uncomfortable on a baseball field than he had ever been.