As part of a recently started weekly look at the many independent baseball leagues across the country covered and streamed on this platform, FloBaseball’s Player of the Week series highlights the best of the best in independent ball.

Peter Zimmermann, who plays multiple roles for the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League, is this week’s honoree.

Here’s a look at Zimmermann’s week, along with his background and a peek into his season with the Grizzlies.

Career Look-Back

The St. Louis native has played close to home for nearly his entire college and professional career, playing NCAA Division I baseball at both Saint Louis and Missouri, before joining the  Sauget, Illinois-based Grizzlies, located in a St. Louis suburb. 

Though his time with Missouri ended on a bit of a sour note – his promising 2020 season, which included batting .333 with four home runs and 17 RBIs through 16 games, abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic that March – the potential Zimmermann showed against a stacked Southeastern Conference (including a seven-homer, 34-RBI campaign at Mizzou in 2019), and others, led to him signing a free-agent deal out of college with the MLB’s Houston Astros organization. 

He appeared in spring training with the big-league club, but he made his official pro debut in the independent ranks with the Grizzlies in 2022, showing plenty of effectiveness and room to grow, despite injuries limiting him to nine home runs and 25 RBIs across 45 games. 

Now, in his second year with the team, Zimmermann has taken the leap to be one of the top stars of the Frontier League.

Standout Performances

Recently named a West Division All-Star at first base, Zimmermann’s place among the league’s elite is well-earned – he could be holding some Frontier records by the time this season is over. 

His league-leading 63 RBIs see him on pace to beat the single-season Frontier record of 100, and he drove in 14 of those runs this past week. 

Saturday, against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles, Zimmermann blasted two home runs and collected seven RBIs as part of a 15-6 victory over the Canadian team. 

A day later, he drove in two more runs in the series finale against the Aigles to make it nine RBIs for the three-game homestand against Trois-Rivieres. 

Zimmermann and the Grizzlies then welcomed the Florence Y’alls to Grizzlies Ballpark for a three-game stretch that went through the Fourth of July, and the Mizzou man brought the fireworks in the Monday opener. 

For the second time in three days, Zimmermann launched a pair of homers and finished with five RBIs, this time helping his team to a 15-1 rout over Florence, extending his RBI lead on the rest of the league, while bumping his season home run total to 16, which ranks third in the Frontier as of Thursday afternoon. 

Ranking in the top 5 in the league in all three Triple Crown hitting categories (toting a .380 batting average for the year), Zimmermann could add onto his accolades if the Grizzlies’ good form this summer continues. They lead the West with a 30-16 record entering Thursday’s games.