Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets announced prior to Friday night’s series-opening matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies that outfielder Brandon Nimmo will officially be activated from the injured list and return to the starting lineup batting second tonight against Zack Wheeler.
Nimmo was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain following Game 1 of the doubleheader win over the Washington Nationals back on September 4th, and has been progressing much better than the team expected.
Nimmo has been running the bases all week, taking batting practice, and working in the field. He took place in Noah Syndergaard’s live batting practice at Citi Field on Wednesday afternoon, and the Mets felt he remained on track to finally return for tonight’s game.
Nimmo has been the table-setter atop the Mets lineup all season long. There’s no denying this lineup looks completely different without him in it. Over 77 games, he has a .420 on-base percentage and is hitting .302 with a .835 OPS.
In a corresponding roster move, right-hander Jake Reed has been optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse.
Reed’s time with the big league team did not last long. The rightly was activated from the injured list prior to Tuesday night’s game and is now heading back down to the minor leagues.
Prior to his injuries, he pitched well in a small sample size. Reed struck out five and allowed just two hits over two appearances in his first stint with the team. This time around, things didn’t go so well.
The right-hander pitched in both Tuesday and Wednesday’s games against the Cardinals. He was thrown right into the fire in his first outing back, pitching in extras, and allowed three runs on three hits, and took the loss in the 7-6 defeat.
Reed entered with two on and two out in an 11-4 game on Wednesday night and was able to get Yadier Molina to ground out and end the inning. He now has a 3.60 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over 10 innings pitched this season.
At this point it’s now or never for the Mets’ very slim playoff chances, receiving Nimmo and his on-base prowess back at the top of the order should provide a nice little boost to a group that desperately needs it.
