Success allows Amazin’s to spot players needed days off
Brandon Nimmo believes the Mets’ three-game weekend sweep of the Phillies has made it easier for him to sit out with a sore right wrist.
With a 9 ¹/2-game lead through Memorial Day, Buck Showalter is remaining patient with two of his lineup staples, Nimmo and Jeff McNeil.
While Nimmo remained sidelined for at least one more game, McNeil was back in the lineup as the designated hitter after sitting out Sunday night while experiencing what the Mets described as general “wear and tear” on his legs.
“I think we always go, OK, they’re ready to go, so one more day,” Showalter said before Monday night’s 13-5 victory over the Nationals at Citi Field. “I don’t think that changes, pushing or pulling back. I think there’s just a set way you need to do it, except when you’re at the end and you’re not saving them for something else. You’re not saving them for November baseball.
“So we’re trying to keep the [relief ] pitchers out of the league leaders in appearances; that always bodes well. And we’re trying to share the load, and we’ve got the personnel that we’ve been given that helps us share the load.”
Indeed, Triple-A call-up Nick Plummer started Sunday night in the outfield in place of Nimmo and blasted a game-tying home run in the ninth of an eventual 5-4 win in 10 innings. Luis Guillorme also started at second base in place of McNeil, and continued his recent hot hitting with a 2-for-5 night in the leadoff hole.
McNeil, who’s batting average dipped to .308 after five hitless atbats Monday, spent a month on the injured list last season with a strained left hamstring. It’s something he and the Mets are hoping to avoid this season.
“He understands his body and his legs and his upper torso, and it’s ‘in the past if I do this and if I feel this and I push this, this happens.’ So don’t do that,” Showalter said. “He has in the past pushed through some things, and kind of paid a price with it into a little more long-term problem.”
➤ One day later, reliever Drew Smith reiterated that he believes he ‘dodged a bullet” when he dislocated his pinky trying to field a J.T. Realmuto comebacker with his bare hand in the seventh inning Sunday night against the Phillies.
“It could have been a lot worse. So I’m thankful that it’s just a dislocation, not a break,” Smith said, before adding that “as of right now,” he doesn’t expect to be assigned to the injured list. “Escaped with nothing too serious ... so hopefully I don’t miss any time.
“They’re gonna try and give me a day or two, but hopefully by [Tuesday] I should be good to go.”
➤ The Mets uniforms featured a poppy patch in honor of Memorial Day, with more than 100 members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard lining the warning track during the national anthem.