Felix Zimmerle

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 200 lb.

• School Scottsdale Junior College

• Born August 27, 1994

Biographical Information

Felix Zimmerle has played regularly for the Austrian national team.

He made his Austrian Baseball League debut in 2010, hitting .165/.343/.190 for the Vienna Wanderers and going 0-1 with a 6.57 ERA. He was named the ABL's Gold Glove winner and All-Star at third base, though. He hit .259/.403/.379 in 2011 and had a 3.24 ERA in four games pitched. In 2012, he improved to .320/.418/.427 and 6-2, 2.47. He tied for 7th in the league with 33 hits, tied for 8th in doubles (6), walks (14) and RBI (21), tied Clemens Cichocki for 7th in wins, was 8th in ERA and 9th in IP (76 1/3). In the 2012 European U-21 Championship, he was 0 for 4 with two walks, two runs and a RBI but 0-1 with a save and a 1.64 ERA. He was 5th in ERA, tied Dmytro Limarenko for 9th in IP (11) and was 6th in opponent average (.189, between future Reds signee Jakub Ižold and Marek Bošanský).

For the 2013 Wanderers, he hit .333/.390/.391 and was 6-1 with a 2.67 ERA. He was among the leaders in average (10th), hits (tied for 8th), doubles (tied for 6th), RBI (tied Cichocki for 6th with 18), ERA (2nd), wins (tied for 2nd), IP (3rd), K (40, 6th, between Paul Astl and Walter Strasser and WHIP (4th). He was a two-way star for Austria in the 2013 B-Level European Championship, going 1-0 with a save and a 1.86 ERA and batting .417/.462/.500 with 3 runs and 5 RBI in 3 games entering the finale, beating Lithuania. He was 8th in the round-robin in average, tied Peter Ferak for 5th in RBI, 2nd in ERA behind former Twins farmhand Nikita Lobanov and tied for 4th in K. In the finale, he was 1 for 4 with a run against Andrey Lobanov in a 3-2 loss to Russia.

In the 2014 U-21 European Championship, he was 2 for 11 with 3 walks, 2 steals, 5 runs and 2 RBI and lost a 2-1 pitching duel to Russia's Denis Leonov. He was 3rd in ERA (after Dmytro Kiliyevich and Leonov) and tied for 5th in whiffs (8). He had a 5-2, 3.23 record for the '14 Wanderers and barely took the field (3 for 31, 2B, 7 BB). He tied for 3rd in the ABL in wins, was 7th in strikeouts (31) and was 9th in ERA.

Zimmerle spent the 2014-2015 college season in the US, with 14 2/3 IP (15 H, 14 R, 12 BB, 10 K). He was 0-1 with a 2.55 ERA in his limited time in Austria, going 10-for-21. He struggled in the 2015 B-Level European Championship, going 1 for 7 with 3 walks, a run and 3 RBI while handling 8 chances error-free. He was hit hard in a loss to Israel and Shlomo Lipetz (7 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 1 K in 3 1/3 IP).

The right-hander was 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA for Vienna in 2016 and hit .182/.329/.242. He batted .353/.500/.353 in the 2016 CEB Cup and had a 5.79 ERA. In the 2016 U-23 Baseball World Cup, he played all four infield spots for Austria, going 2 for 16 with six walks, a steal and two runs while handling 23 chances error-free. He was 0-2 with a 12.96 ERA. He tied for 10th in the event in walks, tied for first in times plunked (3) and tied for 2nd in losses (one behind Yen-Ching Lu). In '17, he produced at a .270/.415/.370 clip with 21 walks in 23 games, going 3-1 with a save and a 2.14 ERA. He tied for 5th in the ABL in walks, tied for 6th in doubles (8) and was 3rd in ERA (behind Ryan Rupp and Christian Tomsich).

He hit .429/.529/.571 with 7 runs in 4 games for Austria in the round-robin part of the 2017 B-Level European Championship. The third baseman was 9th in average, tied for 9th in OBP, tied Benjamin Salzmann and Tobias Siegrist for 2nd in runs (3 behind Takanobu Oshima) and tied for the lead with four double plays. In the finale against Israel, he played second and went 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch, run and RBI in Austria's win. He had a 4.15 ERA in the 2017 European Championship U23 and hit .167/.423/.333 with 6 walks and 6 runs in 6 games. He tied for 4th in the event with five double plays turned and tied Moritz Scheicher for second on Austria in runs.

He missed 2018 due to injuries. He coached for Austria in the 2018 European Championship Playoff as Austria topped Lithuania for a spot in the 2019 European Championship.

When he returned in 2019, he no longer pitched. He did hit .337/.491/.506 with 28 runs and 28 RBI in 22 games. He was 4th in the league in hits and walks (23) and 3rd in RBI, while tying for 3rd in runs. He was named the All-Star third baseman. In the 2019 European Championship, he started at third for Austria and backed up Joachim Frick at 1B. He hit .211/.304/.263 with two runs and four RBI in six games, handling 28 chances error-free. His first European Championship hit was off Esteban Prioul.

The 2020 season was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic; he hit .293/.492/.415 with 15 walks in 13 games. He was 8th in OBP.

Through 2020, he has hit .271/.409/.366 with 130 walks, 115 runs and 131 RBI in 177 ABL games and gone 22-9 with a save and a 3.50 ERA.