NY Mets: 2 things that went right, 1 thing went wrong for Brandon Nimmo

The 2021 season was supposed to be the year where Brandon Nimmo put together several career-highs. He was one of my three picks at the start of the season to have the best season of their career with the New York Mets. I swung and missed on the other two. In Nimmo’s case, there was one major factor holding him back.

Fortunately, there were plenty of things that did go well for the Mets center fielder in 2021. I’d like to discuss them all.

What went right: Brandon Nimmo had another excellent offensive season for the Mets

I can break down Nimmo’s offense in many directions. I’ll keep it as simple as possible because there is just so much goodness to discuss.

He finished the year with a .292/.401/.437 slash line with the average topping out his previous best at .280 set in 2020. His OBP was right there with what he has done in the past and the slugging was a little light but acceptable.

Nimmo was about what you would want from a leadoff hitter. He got on base a ton. His 54 walks and 79 strikeouts created a wonderful ratio in his 386 plate appearances. He has become a much more rounded hitter.

Remarkably, he was very good against lefties. His .306/.429/.398 slash line tells us that he can handle them even if the power isn’t quite there. Compared to his .286/.389/.454 batting line versus righties, we get a guy with no major weakness based on the handedness of the pitcher. Any past thoughts of pairing him with a righty in a platoon have now died and been buried six feet under.

What went wrong: Brandon Nimmo couldn’t stay on the field

By far the easiest criticism of Nimmo is how un-Cal Ripken he has been in his career. In 2018, Nimmo began to play regularly for the Mets. He suited up in 140 games and it looked like the club had a guy they could rely on for a starting gig in one of the outfield spots.

An injury in 2019 limited him to only 69 games. This past year, Nimmo only participated in 92 of them.

Injuries are tough to predict. Based on the way he plays, I feel like they are even more inevitable. He gives 100% on every play and doesn’t even dog it to first base on a walk. While these factors aren’t necessarily a contributor to his annual trip to the IL, it may represent how much more likely it is for him to get hurt on any given play.

It’s unfortunate that Nimmo will head into his final year of arbitration with a single season of 400+ plate appearances. The shortened 2020 season stole a part of this away but who can say he wouldn’t have gotten hurt at some point if we had the regularly scheduled 162?

I’m not sure there is an answer to prevent Nimmo from getting hurt. Yoga can only do so much. The same is true for extra days off. It might simply be a case of working through the injuries and hoping the Mets have a good backup plan in place.