Nimmo at-bats are not that easy to find
ONE OF the Mets’ biggest problems right now might be finding more at-bats for Brandon Nimmo.
The right fielder continued to impress in Sunday’s 3-2 victory over the Brewers, going 3-for-5 with a home run, falling a double shy of the cycle as he improved to 6-for-15 through eight games this season.
“He played a great game,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “His at-bats are always really good. It’s a challenge to get him out there. Our outfield is one of the best in the major leagues. We’re third or fourth in OPS, and have some really good hitters out there already.” Nimmo is behind Jay Bruce, Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes on the outfield depth chart but his play is making it harder to leave him out of the lineup on a consistent basis.
The 25-yearold came through in the clutch on Sunday by leading off the sixth inning with a home run to tie the game, 2-2. The Mets had just given up the lead in the top of the inning, but Nimmo wasted no time in pulling them right back into the game.
“Everybody is trying to get that team win and put good atbats together,” Nimmo said. “You’re going to break through every now and then.”
Nimmo also set things up in the first inning, leading off the bottom half with a single and coming around to score the Mets’ first run. He added a triple in the fourth inning and by the end of the eighth inning he had a chance to complete the cycle with a double.
“As I was getting up there, everyone was telling me to hit a double,” he said. “So I was like ‘Ok, now I realized it.’ That would have been awesome, but I was just going up there trying to stay focused, have a good at-bat.”
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Nimmo is he understands his role on the team and sees the bigger picture rather than just trying to get himself more at-bats.
“If you talk to these guys, they all say it’s the most talented team we’ve played on, and that makes at-bats hard to come by but that also makes World Series a plausible thing,” he said. “I want to be a part of a World Series team and if that means I need to come off the bench and put up a good at-bat for a pinch-hit, or whatever it may be, that’s what I’ll do. If they need me to start, that’s what I’m going to do and I’m going to give it the best effort I can because I want to see this team win a World Series at the end of the year.”