Flashback to 2016 for a second. A 22-year-old Tomas Nido just hit .320/.357/.459 in St. Lucie and got added to the 40-man roster because the Mets believed him enough to make sure he did not leave the organization.
I went back to the 2017 Top Mets Prospects list from Fangraphs just to see what the makeup of his profile was. Nido was eighth on the list, ahead of Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso (whoops), but the part that caught my eye was this: “Nido ironed out his offensive footwork in 2016, which helped improve his timing, and he machete’d his strikeout rate in half. He’s also toned down some of the high-effort components of his amateur swing.”
We then go to 2017, Nido had struggled with the minor league pitching but made a tweak to his swing and was considered a legitimate prospect. Even though he changed his swing, it was not fully refined enough for the better competition of Binghamton. Despite his struggles in Binghamton, Nido was thrusted into playing time in the majors, largely due to his glove and injuries to the Mets.
In 2018 and 2019, Nido got big league playing time but only hit .182/.219/.286. The Mets signed Rene Rivera to compete with Nido, who knew he had to change something in order to save his own major league career.
Enter Lorenzo Garmendia. Nido hired Garmendia as a private hitting coach as detailed Justin Toscano of NorthJersey.com.
In the article, Toscano describes Gardmenia as someone who has tirelessly researched the art of hitting over the last 15 years. Some of his other clients include J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, Manny Ramirez, and Alex Rodriguez. These are all some big name hitters with ample amounts of talent but some of his other pupils are Christian Vazquez and Omar Narvaez. Both of those hitters hit for 20+ homers last season for the first time ever in their careers.
Garmendia looks for players who can use his input and Nido fits that criteria. Garmendia noticed that Nido does do much with his legs in his swing and added: “So when a hitter doesn’t use his legs, it’s going to create other holes in the swing. I noticed right away he wasn’t using his legs. When you don’t use your legs, then you start using your hands a lot more. And that’s not good.”
Garmendia hit Nido with his analytical breakdown and his zone breakdown on top of making mechanical adjustments. Nido became hooked to Garmendia’s methods.
Over the offseason, Nido put in 75 minutes a day, everyday, towards working with Garmedia. His goal is to be able to hit the ball with more power all over the field. The results yesterday were fairly apparent. He hit two home runs yesterday including a grand slam. For the season (in an albeit small sample), Nido is now hitting .353/.421/.765 with a 221 wRC+ over 19 plate appearances.
I actually noticed a difference in his swing before I even read Toscano’s article. I pulled up the from Nido’s walk-off homer in 2019 against the Tigers. Here is his stance from then:
(Image courtesy of MLB’s YouTube video)
As you can see, it’s an upright stance and his hands are positioned high up. And then there is today’s swing from his grand slam. Definitely more crouched at the plate which has seemed to benefit many hitters.
Credit to the LasVegasRealtor’s comment on the postgame article. When he mentioned Nido visiting a private hitting coach I went searching for more info and came across Toscano’s article.
(Image courtesy of MLB’s YouTube video)
It’s fair to question what the expectations of Nido will be going forward. He’s probably not going to post a 221 wRC+ but both he and Garmendia believe that he can be a legitimate hitter and Garmendia even believes he can take the same leaps than Nervaez and Vazquez did. With his defense, that should make him a very good starting catcher in Major League Baseball.
That bring’s me to my last point. Tomas Nido needs to be playing everyday. I get that it’s only been 20 games (a third of the season though) and Wilson Ramos is a proven hitter but Wilson Ramos is also borderline unplayable and unwatchable when he can’t hit. He’s currently hitting .196/.274/.286 with a 64 wRC+ this season. He’s probably going to go on a hot streak at some point and bring his numbers closer to league average but lets face the facts. If Ramos is only average offensively, it’s not enough to merit his bad defense, he’s 33, and he’s not athletic.
The Mets are more fun to watch when they’re younger and playing well. Watching Andres Gimenez and Luis Guillorme succeed up the middle is fun to watch. I’m enjoying Dominic Smith‘s breakout campaign, please continue that trend of letting the kids play. If somehow all these players succeed, then you can actually make real judgments on the 2021 roster.
