Photo by Roberto Carlo

Nick Plummer is making the most of his opportunity. Promoted to the big league club after an injury to reserve outfielder Travis Jankowski, and pressed into regular duty after Brandon Nimmo was forced to the bench with a (hopefully) minor wrist ailment, Plummer is well on his way to achieving cult status in Flushing.

One night after hitting a game-tying home run in the ninth inning off Phillies closer Corey Knebel, Plummer stayed hot. He collected three hits during Monday’s Memorial Day matchup with the Nationals, including a double, a home run, four RBIs and two runs.

After the Mets fell behind 3-0 early, Plummer pulled them even in the second inning, lashing a 100.8 mph line-drive to left-center field that went for a double and scored Mark Canha. Plummer would later come around to score the go-ahead run on a single by the red-hot Luis Guillorme in a game the Mets would never trail again.

Plummer would use the opposite field to similar effect in his next at-bat, launching a three-run homer to left field off of Nats’ reliever Austin Voth. The homer traveled 383 feet and had an exit velocity of 100.7 mph. It made Plummer the first player in team history to homer in each of his first two major league starts. In his final plate appearance of the night, Plummer lined a 93.5 mph single in front of Victor Robles in center field, showing off the short, quick stroke that Mets fans have come to enjoy during his brief tenure.

Plummer will be an interesting name to watch moving forward. The Mets signed the left-handed hitter to a major league contract on November 24 despite the fact that he had yet to appear in a big-league game. Though he arrived with little fanfare to a team that added several big names and all-star talents in the offseason, Plummer has already showed off the tools that made him the 23rd overall pick of the 2015 amateur draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.

After struggling immensely for the first few years of his professional career, Plummer blossomed in 2021, putting up a .280/.415/.479 slash-line between Double-A and Triple-A for the Cardinals. In his brief time with the Mets, Plummer has looked extremely comfortable both at the dish and defensively in left field. The Mets, who employ the oldest roster in major league baseball, have to feel better about their outfield depth after watching Plummer, still just 25 years old, put on a show at Citi Field over the past two nights.

Plummer’s youth and athleticism–he played quarterback in high school–are useful attributes for a roster like the Mets’. And while Jankowski has been a factor off the bench for the Mets, putting his speed, in particular, to good use, he has shown that he is not much of a power threat at the plate. In fact, in just two days, Plummer has racked up two more extra-base hits than Jankowski has all season.

Buck Showalter called Plummer’s recent stretch “special,” before indicating that he is particularly happy at Plummer’s success given the boost in morale that comes from promoting within.

Plummer described the last couple of nights at Citi Field as “a whole bunch of fun” after Monday’s game before crediting his teammates for his early success and expressing gratitude to the Flushing faithful for their support. Plummer said there are “a lot of really good pieces” on the roster, which enticed him to join the club in the offseason.

On a first-place team with a lot of really good pieces, Nick Plummer is doing all he can to show that he, himself, is a pretty darn good one.