Looking to make a giant splash over the off-season, the New York Mets strongly considered acquiring an impact center fielder through free agency and came up just short in their pursuit of outfielder George Springer. However, losing out on him to the Toronto Blue Jays may not have been such a terrible outcome.

At the time, failing to land one of the top hitters in the major leagues was extremely disappointing, especially since it seemed the Mets were considered the favorite to sign the former Houston Astro. Fast-forward to midway through the 2021 season, failing to acquire a superstar player for center field has seemingly worked out very well for this team, as Brandon Nimmo is enjoying one of the top overall performances of his entire career.

Offensively, Nimmo has continued to provide a massive spark in the leadoff spot and has helped set the table for sluggers like Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Dominic Smith all season long. Though the 28-year-old’s power hasn’t shown up just yet, as he’s only posted two home runs and a .115 ISO up to this point, he’s still stood out in a massive way by serving as an elite on-base threat in 2021.

Serving as a reliable hitter at the top of the Mets’ lineup, the left-hander has totaled 182 plate appearances, producing a career-best .447 BABIP, a .376 wOBA, a .349 xwOBA, a 17.0% walk rate, a 28.6% strikeout rate, a 140 wRC+ score, a 1.8 fWAR rating (highest since 2018) and a slashing line of .297/.425/.412/.838.

Given that Nimmo missed two months earlier in the season due to a hand injury, there’s a chance his offensive results would be even higher if hadn’t already missed a large chunk of the schedule. Despite being on the shelf for an extended time, the speedy outfielder certainly hasn’t missed a beat, and if he stays healthy the rest of the way, odds are he’ll remain productive at the plate throughout these final two months.

Unlike his offensive capabilities, there were some major concerns regarding the 6-foot-3-inch outfielder’s defense heading into this season, particularly involving his ability to perform effectively as an everyday center fielder.

Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

With limited quality options available, the Mets have been forced to rely on Nimmo as a full-time regular in the middle of the outfield over the last few seasons, which had been an effective option at times prior to last season. Unfortunately, his defensive metrics took a turn for the worse during the 60-game schedule, and that was one of the key reasons why the front office attempted to upgrade the center field position over the winter.

Proving to be a defensive liability in center field, the former first-round selection compiled 308 1/3 innings, generating career worsts in OAA (-4), DRS (-5), RngR (-2.9), ErrR (-0.9), UZR (-4.1) and UZR/150 (-19.2).

While most experts were skeptical about whether Nimmo could improve off these concerning woes, he’s done exactly that and more so far this season, allowing him to turn his defense into an area of strength. As a result, the East High School standout has completely overcome his struggles from the 2020 campaign and has become one of the top-performing center fielders in the majors.

Making remarkable defensive improvements, the former top prospect has created career bests in OAA (3), DRS (3), RngR (1.0), ErrR (0.2), UZR (2.6) and UZR/150 (21.0) over his 303.0 innings in center field.

Thanks to this progression, the lightning-fast outfielder has recorded the second-highest UZR/150, is tied for the fifth-most DRS, tied for the eighth-highest ErrR, owns the ninth-highest UZR, is tied for the 11th-highest defensive WAR rating (3.1), and is tied for the 12th-highest RngR among all center fielders who’ve played at least 200.0 innings, according to FanGraphs.com.

In addition, he’s also tied for the fifth-highest OAA among all qualified center fielders, according to BaseballSavant.com.

Without question, Nimmo deserves a ton of credit for making such a dramatic improvement with his defense in such a short period of time, especially taking into account his miserable showing from last season. Along with making some adjustments over the off-season, the Mets’ coaching staff has also slightly altered his positioning in center field this season, which has played a huge factor in his breakout performance.

Despite possessing enough quickness to be positioned in center field, the Wyoming native had previously been unable to perform up to his high expectations, particularly when his starting position was shaded towards left field, as he posted a -4 OAA over 45 fielding attempts in that location during the 2020 campaign.

Similar to his ineffectiveness when playing closer to left field, Nimmo also struggled to perform effectively when he was shaded toward right field, resulting in a -1 OAA through 51 fielding attempts. Regardless of where he was positioned, the right-handed outfielder just couldn’t provide reliable defense in center field, which limited his overall value.

Looking to provide the struggling defender a few extra seconds to read the ball off opposing hitter’s bats, the Mets’ coaching staff decided to move him a little closer to the outfield wall at the start of this season. And so far, that’s been an extremely successful decision as he’s registered a 2 OAA when shaded towards left field and a 1 OAA when shaded towards right field.

It’s probably fair to say New York wasn’t expecting to witness this type of progression from Nimmo in 2021, although now that he’s proven capable of serving as a reliable defender, perhaps the front office won’t need to continue searching for a long-term solution in center field.

Combining his encouraging defense with his impressive offensive skills, the two-time MiLB.com Organization All-Star has suddenly emerged into one of the most crucial pieces on the roster and is proving he belongs in the middle of the outfield. While it appeared he was better suited for a corner outfield spot before this season, that certainly isn’t the case now and it’d be very shocking if he were moved away from center field in 2022.

Since Nimmo is slated to become a free agent after next season, he’d obviously require a contract extension to officially become the club’s full-time center fielder over the next several seasons. But given the success he’s enjoyed up to this point, it’d be hard to envision a scenario where his upcoming contract situation isn’t resolved before the 2022 campaign concludes.

With Nimmo thriving at the plate and in the field, the Mets are in a great position to not only make a competitive playoff run in 2021 but also over the next couple of seasons as well, especially since they’re currently built extremely well up the middle of the field.