Brandon Nimmo was one of the lone bright spots for the New York Mets in the first half. His teammates argued that he should’ve been an All-Star, and based on his play through the midsummer classic, you could’ve easily made that argument. However, since then the 30-year-old centerfielder has hit .233/.330/.372/.702 with just 20 hits (two home runs) in 100 plate appearances. He hit a cold streak, and he’s been nursing a quad injury that’s removed him from patrolling the center field.
Those stats were coming into Monday night’s 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Perhaps Nimmo’s Monday performance is further proof that he’s ready to come out of his prolonged slump. Nimmo fared 2-for-5 with his 16th home run of the season. A power surge this year hit a snag in the second half, as Nimmo’s sixth-inning home run was just his third of the second half, but he’s amidst a hot streak, despite his recent injury.
Brandon Nimmo. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Nimmo was hitting .321 over his last eight games (seven starts) coming into Monday with a .406 OBP. On top of that, he reached base twice on Monday, including his 16th home run of the season, one shy of his career-high.
He currently has a six-game hitting streak with three straight multi-hit games during his current stretch.
After the game, Buck Showalter wasn’t surprised by what he saw from Nimmo, telling reporters that “Tonight, he reminded us of what’s he capable of, especially when he’s healthy.”
As Nimmo deals with a left quad contusion, the Mets have moved him off center field. He’s now in left field, a position he hasn’t played since 2021 and it seems to be helping him get back to full strength, or close to it.
“It’s really helped out my leg because it’s less exposure to high speed in left field,” Nimmo told reporters following Monday’s game. “Everything happens in shorter parameters, so I’m able to get to everything without any hindering problems and that’s allowing my leg to heal as I’m playing.”
The Mets made a significant financial commitment to Nimmo this offseason, in terms of years and dollars. He’s part of the future of this team and while his performance this season hasn’t been relatively concerning compared to others like Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil, the Mets would still like to see him finish the season on a high note heading into 2024.
New York is quite aware of how good of a defensive center fielder Nimmo is. He has nothing left to prove out there, as he’s put in the work to become one of the better defensive players at his position in the league. Seeing that the season doesn’t have much left for the Mets to evaluate, besides some of their younger players, perhaps it would be a good idea to leave Nimmo in left field, have him build that strength up, and continue to focus on getting back on track at the plate.
A healthy Nimmo will be key to New York’s success in 2024 and beyond. Having him finish strong and complete the season with a clean bill of health is an important objective for a team that doesn’t have many things left on the checklist to cross off.
