San Diego Padres: Adam Cimber Continues Dominant Rookie Campaign

A 27-year-old rookie for the San Diego Padres, Adam Cimber, is in the midst of a masterful debut season.

Adam Cimber’s shutout inning on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates marked his 20th appearance of the season with the San Diego Padres. Cimber’s rookie season has been phenomenal thus far, earning a 2-1 record with a 2.92 ERA in 24.2 innings.

Producing a ground ball rate just a few ticks under 50%, Cimber is striking out 32% of hitters faced while walking just 6%. A major reason for his high success rate comes from his unorthodox delivery.

From pointing his front foot towards centerfield, to bending over so far he can look at a runner on first base from between his legs, to his extremely low release point, fans can’t help but fall in love with the 27-year-old rookie out of San Francisco.

Cimber enters the weekend tied with Brad Hand for most appearances on the team (20), also having pitched the highest number of innings out of the bullpen (24.2). You have to wonder how long he can keep up his production before opposing hitters figure him out, especially National League West hitters.

Fellow submariner, Kazuhisa Makita,  lasted only a few weeks before being demoted to El Paso. Hitters quickly found success against his low-80s fastball and mid-50s curveball. Opposing teams don’t seem to be having the same success against Cimber.

After hitting a three-game rough patch from May 4th-May 8th (2.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER), Cimber has tossed three scoreless innings. In that stretch, he’s given up only two hits and hasn’t walked a single batter.

He’s quickly climbing up the leaderboards for Padres’ rookie relievers. His strikeout rate is the third-highest in franchise history, among pitchers with at least 15 innings. Cimber’s 31 strikeouts already place him 20th on the rookie list, 62 behind Luke Gregerson who struck out his record 93 hitters in 2009.

With the way this San Diego Padres bullpen has been used, Cimber may even challenge Mark Lee’s 85 innings, set in 1978.

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In a season full of ups, downs, and uncertainties, Adam Cimber remains one of the very few constants on this Padres roster. It’s a good feeling when Cimber enters the game, knowing that the Friars have a dominant option.