Dear Mets Fans: Why do some of you still dislike Brandon Nimmo?

Dear New York Mets fans—or at least a small handful of you—what’s with the still existent Brandon Nimmo hatred?

I understand sports hate in every degree. Some players just have a face you want to punch. Others may remind you of someone in your life or share a name with a coworker you cannot stand for an irrational reason. A part of fandom is being illogical, quick to judge, and loyal for the most ridiculous reasons possible.

Hating Nimmo because of his personal beliefs—I get that, too. He’s cut from a different cloth than most New Yorkers. You can take him out of the Wyoming Badlands but you can’t take what they made him. He has different thoughts and opinions about life than many of us in the northeast. Disliking him for this, while a little petty, is even acceptable to a degree.

What I don’t get is how Mets fans can continue to dislike Brandon Nimmo as a ballplayer

Nimmo has carried the Mets offense through the early part of the season. He’s an OBP machine and run-producer. His suspect defense in center field is a work in progress but not a major detriment to the team.

What more does Nimmo need to do to convince you that he’s more than a fourth outfielder? Must he do this over a full season? Okay, fair enough.

The biggest knock we can have against Nimmo is how we haven’t seen close to 162 games of success outside of the 2018 season. Prior to his breakout campaign, Nimmo was a part-time player. He made the climb from a guest star to a series regular. Because of some scheduling conflicts with injuries in 2019, he had to be recast in a few episodes.

Nimmo managed to stay healthy in 2020 and we saw him produce more than ever. I know the season was short so even if you did doubt his abilities then, I’ll let you have your social media diatribe none of your 12 followers will see.

There’s no logical reason to dislike Nimmo as a baseball player. The arguments seem to stem from criticizing his defense to suggesting what he does best is not valuable enough.

I don’t know if it’s a naïve misunderstanding of statistics other than batting average, home runs, and RBI. Many of the statistics Nimmo excels in are a little more analytical and many fans don’t understand exactly how they are produced—just that Nimmo produces them at a high rate.

In the end, does it really matter which statistic we reference? The eye test is good enough to clearly see Nimmo is a fantastic member of the Mets roster.

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Please allow other fanbases to hate his constant hustle, fixed smile, and pest-like ability to make the opposing pitchers overwork. Both multi and uniquely-talented, Nimmo is imperfect but he’s also pretty terrific. It’s time the few clinging to the idea that he’s a part-time player admit they are wrong and enjoy what he brings to the Mets.