The plan to keep on smilin’
Nimmo, Mets set course to manage left/center workload for most productive season
PORT ST. LUCIE — Brandon Nimmo came into the 2023 season with a game plan for how to manage his workload for the season. The plan was similar to the one that allowed him to play 151 games in 2022, a career-high mark at the time.
The plan created by Mets trainers and biomechanical specialists laid out a target number of games he would play, how he would go about his pregame work, his postgame work and his lifts based on data collected from Catapult fitness trackers. It was a load management plan of sorts, and whether you agree that everyday players need to have their workloads managed, Nimmo was happy with the results. They were also hard to argue: Back-to-back seasons with 150 or more games played after injuries had limited him in previous seasons.
But this blueprint was created for him when he played center field. Now that he’s going to play both left and center fields, it will have to be altered on a game-by-game basis.
“Ultimately, it comes down to (the question), how does my body feel?” Nimmo said Sunday after playing in his first Grapefruit League game of spring training. “And what decision are we going to make together with the information that we have and how I feel?”
Nimmo went 0-for-2 Sunday against the Astros, exiting before the rain began. He typically plays about eight or nine Grapefruit League games a year, plus a few more games on the backfields. But he’ll get into more games this spring to be able to get reads and reps in left and center fields.
His routine and recovery plans will vary based on his energy output in the field. If it’s a high-output day, he’ll scale back after the game. If it’s a day without much running, he might add some running after the game. Nimmo, who will be 31 later this month, wants to maintain his center-field lungs, even if he’s playing a long stretch of games in left.
“We’re probably going to try and keep my workload like center field,” he said. “You try and stay with that workload that you had in center field and make sure that you’re working up to it. That could even mean after games in the early bits, maybe I’m going on the treadmill and doing four more sprints after the game or something like that. We try to make things as consistent as possible.”
When Nimmo was a full-time center fielder, the Mets had a good idea of how much ground he would be required to cover. Now, they aren’t sure. However, he is sure that he will continue with this load management program.
The Mets and Nimmo’s agent, Scott Boras, suggested this to him following the 2021 season. With a shortened spring training because of the lockout in 2022, he didn’t play in as many Grapefruit League games. He realized his body felt better going into Opening Day and his production levels stayed high.
Historically, the Mets have been criticized for their inability to keep their best players healthy and there have been times when it was warranted. Buck Showalter also threw the team under the bus recently, when he revealed on Foul Territory that he was told to bench the Wyoming native after a productive game at the plate.
But all controversy aside, Nimmo is an example of the team doing something right. His recent health is a success story for the Mets. If the leadoff man can play another 150 games this season, then it will only serve to highlight that success.
“I think there’s a right way to do it,” Nimmo said. “I think you drive the ship and you listen to your body and you come up with a plan, but be adjustable on it. I don’t think that it has to be like, ‘This is what the numbers say, and so you need this.’ I think it’s just kind of coming up with a plan like, ‘OK, this is what the numbers are saying. How do you feel?’ ”