Mets: Brandon Nimmo is making the most of his opportunity at the Major League level

Brandon Nimmo had a setback due to injury before the season even started. Now he’s taking advantage of playing time in New York due to outfield injury issues

It’s been a tough season for a New York Mets team that was expected by many to contend for a playoff spot in 2017. However, there have been a couple of positives in an otherwise forgettable year. One has been the play of Brandon Nimmo.

Nimmo was bitten by the injury bug early in his ’17 campaign. He strained his hamstring in the World Baseball Classic and struggled to get going at the plate upon return. Nimmo was hitting just .223 in Las Vegas over a 38-game stretch. Upon his promotion to the Mets though, Nimmo has seven hits in 20 at-bats and has contributed solid defense in center.

You can read more quotes from Nimmo here.

There is still a relatively small sample size at the big league level. Nimmo has played the equivalent of a little more than a quarter of a full season (47 games). In that span, Nimmo has 93 at-bats and a .290/.365/.344 slash line. For context, Nimmo’s on-base percentage would rank 40^th in the Majors this year. His batting average would rank him 46^th among all qualifiers.

Last year, Nimmo had a breakout season in Triple-A from a power perspective with 44 extra base hits over 97 games. That hasn’t translated to the highest level yet: just three of Nimmo’s 27 hits have gone for extra bases (two doubles, one homer). Six of his seven hits this season have been singles.

Even if that part of his game doesn’t wind up carrying over, Nimmo has shown the ability to learn and apply. He naturally has a good eye at the plate and uses all fields well enough to suggest he could maintain a respectable batting average. Nimmo will eventually get shuffled back to Las Vegas once Michael Conforto is ready to come off the disabled list. Projecting forward, Nimmo is proving he could be a long term option beyond this year.

With the Mets potentially selling and two outfielders in contract years, it’s not hard to envision Nimmo in at least a platoon situation with Juan Lagares in center in 2018. Also, Nimmo’s approach at the plate could slide him perfectly in the two hole in the lineup.

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At age 24, the former first round pick has come from an area that isn’t known for producing Major League talent. According to Baseball Almanac, Nimmo is one of just 15 Major Leaguers born in Wyoming. Yet with the Mets ransacked by injuries, it’s given Nimmo an opportunity to prove his progress via the results he’s turned in during this brief stretch.