In his ninth season with the Mets since getting drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft, Brandon Nimmo hit his 100th career home run on Sunday against the Houston Astros – a game-tying, two-run shot that breathed new life into Citi Field as New York tried to win its sixth series in a row.
Unfortunately for the Mets, after a lengthy rain delay that lasted two hours and 47 minutes right before the bottom of the ninth inning, they lost in extra innings to put them a game under .500 (40-41) at the midway point of the season. So for Nimmo, the home run was nice, especially at the time, but it wound up being “bittersweet”.
“Obviously, I was more excited about the spot,” he said. “But when I found out, I had kind of forgotten, honestly, that I was one away and so when I found out it definitely made it even sweeter. To come up in that spot and be able to tie the game and give us a chance to try and win the game was pretty special for me.”
Nonetheless, Nimmo is proud of his accomplishment – one that shows the immense growth the outfielder has gone through over the years.
Despite his selection in the draft (13th overall), the book on Nimmo was that of a contact hitter that got on base at a high rate who could make for a solid fourth or fifth outfielder. In fact, in his first two seasons in Queens that’s basically what he was, hitting six home runs in his first 102 games but showing a propensity to get on base.
Then, in his first full season in 2018, the 31-year-old exploded for 17 home runs while still sporting a phenomenal on-base percentage. After injuries and a COVID-shortened season derailed his next three seasons, Nimmo returned fully healthy and showed off his power once again in 2022 and 2023, hitting 40 long balls across the two years and playing at least 151 games each season.
Already at 13 home runs this season, Nimmo also has a team-high 50 RBI and hasn’t sacrificed his on-base percentage which sits at .367. Those numbers are especially impressive considering he had a tough start to the season which included a change in the batting order from the leadoff hitter to the No. 3 spot which exacerbated the problem.
Now hitting in the No. 2 hole, Nimmo has found a home in the lineup and just finished an incredible month of June where he slashed .315/.406/.598 with six home runs and 21 RBI.
“I’m proud of it because I think I’ve grown a lot as a player,” he said of his 100th career home run. “I think this is part of one of those milestones that kind of shows the growth that I’ve had because when I first came up I definitely wasn’t considered a home run hitter, more of just a slap hitter and, honestly, when I came up, a lot of people considered me to be a fourth or fifth outfielder.
“So now to have 100 home runs in the big leagues and do it the way that I did it, it’s pretty special. Glad that I could enjoy that and have that moment, but just like everything else in baseball, it was quick and enjoy it and move on [because] we’re trying to win a ballgame.”
The Mets, of course, couldn’t get the win but they still finished June with a 16-8 record, pulling themselves out of a season-high 11 games under .500 that followed a disastrous 9-19 record in May to get right back into the NL Wild Card race.
Nimmo, along with several other players, has been at the forefront of that excavation which he credits to the players-only meeting New York had following a brutal loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in late May.
“I think big picture it’s been a tale of two seasons, even in this first half,” he said. “I would say pre-team meeting, post-team meeting you’ve seen a team that has played really, really good baseball since that team meeting and I think it’s given us a real good argument for going for it and trying to make the playoffs and make this push.
Nimmo continued: “But there’s still a lot of work left to be done, but I think we’re showing very positive signs and we obviously have more work to do and we have places that we can improve on, but I definitely think since that team meeting – the statistics would back it up – that we’re one of the better teams in baseball.”
Now the Mets, who are gearing up to play four games against the Washington Nationals before another four-game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates all on the road, must keep their June momentum going. That starts by forgetting Sunday’s loss.
“It’s obviously a different feeling in here when we’re playing much better baseball and it’s a lot of fun, but we definitely understand that we have room for improvement and that we’re not quite there, but it’s definitely been positive momentum to build on and as we move forward, quickly forget this one and move on to the Nationals,” Nimmo said.
And although both the Nationals and Pirates are under .500 and below New York in the Wild Card standings, Nimmo understands that neither team will be a cake walk.
“I expect really hard fought baseball over this next week and by no means is it gonna be a walk in the park,” he said. “These are gonna be very tough games against very tough opponents that are young teams that are sensing the postseason and they want to get there so we cannot take them lightly.”
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