Brandon Nimmo came into the Mets organization in 2011 with a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Nimmo wasn’t known by many casual draft fans at the time since Wyoming, Nimmo’s hometown, doesn’t have a baseball program for their high schools.
But the 18-year-old showed enough in national showcases to make Sandy Alderson feel comfortable taking him with his first ever draft pick as Mets GM at 13th overall. Nimmo was also the outfielder selected by the Mets in the first round since 12th overall pick Lastings Milledge in 2003.
After spending his first five years as a professional going through the Mets min0r-league system, Nimmo has spent the last five years not only proving that he belongs in the big-leagues, but that he belongs in the everyday starting lineup, too.
But before getting to Nimmo’s strengths, lets knock out maybe the most glaring weakness of his game, center field defense. Nimmo clearly belongs in left field instead of center, but due to the Mets front office continuing to ignore defense year-after-year, he was forced out there. The 27-year-old has posted -15 defensive runs in center since debuting in 2016. His best position is no doubt left field, where he has posted a career five defensive runs saved and 3.0 ultimate zone rating.
The new regime for this club has to know that one of their top priorities this winter is addressing center field via free agency or trade. Nimmo is a left fielder at the end of the day.
Offensively, it almost feels obligatory to start by noting Nimmo’s most obvious skill, getting on base. Since the start of 2018, Nimmo’s .397 on-base percentage ranks fourth among all qualified National League hitters. The three guys ahead of him? 2018 MVP Christian Yelich, Nationals’ wunderkind Juan Soto, and 2020 MVP favorite Freddie Freeman.
Finding players with the ability to get on base at a clip like Nimmo is incredibly difficult. Guys like that simply don’t grow on trees.
Nimmo’s ability to reach base also allows him to be at the top of the leaderboards in another important offensive statistic, weighted runs created plus (wRC+). Nimmo’s impressive 140 wRC+ is third among qualified National League outfielders since the start of 2018, behind only the aforementioned Yelich and Soto. That’s higher than Braves stud Ronald Acuna, 2019 MVP Cody Bellinger, and even Mets top outfielders Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil.
The Cheyenne native still has some issues to work out against lefties (.180/.305/.320) going forward, but a lot of that has to do with the Mets simply not allowing him to face lefties. Nimmo’s 60 plate appearances against southpaws in 2020 ranked 48th in the National League. Just like we’ve seen with Michael Conforto, Nimmo is going to need work against those guys going forward if the Mets want him to be the most complete version of himself at the plate.
When looking at the Mets starters in the outfield for next season, Conforto has to be penned in for right field. But for left field, it’s a bit of a logjam. Jeff McNeil has proven to be a competent defensive outfielder, Dominic Smith is just way too good offensively to be on the bench, and J.D. Davis is clearly not a third baseman after posting -8 DRS there this season.
Could Davis be moved for a starting pitcher this winter? Does Jeff McNeil get a bunch of time at second base next season with Robinson Cano set to turn 38-years-old next month? Does Dom Smith spend more time at first base and Pete Alonso takes most of his at-bats as a DH? Will Amed Rosario go to winter ball and put on a center fielder’s glove?
Lot of questions to answer for Steve Cohen, Sandy Alderson and co. this offseason, but one thing that’s clear is that they need to make sure Brandon Nimmo is batting leadoff for the New York Mets on April 1st, 2021 in Washington DC.
