• Aug 19, 2024: An MRI performed on Nimmo’s right shoulder on Monday didn’t find any structural damage, according to manager Carlos Mendoza. Nimmo was not in the lineup against the Orioles, but he was available off the bench. “The MRI came back clean, so structural-wise, the shoulder is in a good spot. So I think this is a day-to-day thing,” Mendoza said.

  Nimmo hurt the shoulder in the top of the seventh inning of the finale vs. Miami. With the score tied at 2 and with two outs, the Marlins had runners on first and third when Nick Fortes hit a blooper to left field. Nimmo ran hard and dove on his throwing shoulder to make the catch.

  The shoulder did not bother Nimmo right away, but during the seventh-inning stretch, he felt soreness -- though not enough to stop him from facing Andrew Nardi in the bottom of the frame. After swinging at the first pitch, Nimmo needed to take a break because of pain in the back of his shoulder. He continued the at-bat, however, and struck out on five pitches. He was replaced by Jeff McNeil in left field and Francisco Alvarez in the order in the top of the eighth inning.

• July 17: FIRST HALF REPORT CARD

  Brandon Nimmo: A

  He leads the team in RBIs (68) and, with 16 homers, could break his career high (24). He is 8-for-8 stealing bases.

• Sept. 9: Nimmo is hitting .229 with 24 doubles, three triples, 18 home runs and 73 walks. In MLB, Nimmo ranks 82nd in home runs and 38th in RBI.
  
  In 60.2% of his 133 games this season, Nimmo has recorded a base hit (80 times). He’s also notched 26 multi-hit games in 2024 (19.5%).
  
  He has gone yard in 12.8% of his games in 2024 (17 of 133), 3.1% of his trips to the plate.
  
  Nimmo has scored at least one run in 57 out of 133 games this season (42.9%), with more than one run scored in 18 of those contests (13.5%).
  
  He has produced at least one run in 42 out of 133 games this season (31.6%), with more than one RBI in 21 of them (15.8%).
  
  Nimmo has struck out one or more times 89 times this year in 133 games played (66.9%), including 40 multi-punchout contests (30.1%).

• Nimmo's dad, Ron, was a rancher. His father grew up on a ranch in La Junta, Colorado and his dad was a railroad guy, a conductor who bought land and did ranching. So the whole family is also into rodeo.

  "What my dad found out in rodeo is it's not if you get hurt, it's when you get hurt," Brandon said. "All I wanted to do was bull ride. My older brother (Bryce) rode steers when he was younger. And my sister, Beryl, raced. They were in rodeo and I wanted to be a part of it, too."

  One day when Nimmo was seven, he visited his grandfather in La Junta and got his first experience riding a bull.

  "When you get on that calf, which can weigh anywhere from 400 to 700 pounds, you hop right on there," Brandon recalled. "It bucked me off, stepped on my ankle and ran around the arena. Somebody in my family got it on video and I was done it with it after that." 

  NO HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL IN WYOMING

• In 2010, Brandon was playing American Legion ball in a state that does not offer high school baseball. 

  “The huge adjustment for me was living in Brooklyn,” Nimmo said. “I’m used to 60,000 people. You can see for about 40 miles. Then you hop into the middle of 5 million people, where everybody’s on top of each other.”

• In 2011, Nimmo's senior year at East High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, he committed to the University of Arkansas on a baseball scholarship.

• But in June 2011, the Mets drafted him in the first round, and he signed (see Transactions below)

• Wyoming does not have high school baseball and has produced just two draft picks in 10 years. Nimmo became the state's highest pick ever in June 2011.

  That is when the Mets chose Brandon as their first round pick, the 13th player taken overall. And he signed on the August 15 deadline for a bonus of $2.1 million, via scout Jim Reeves. Nimmo is the first Wyoming high school player ever selected in the first round.

• Brandon was a slot receiver and strong safety on his high school football team but gave it up after his junior year.

  He also ran track and was an accomplished sprinter. As a sophomore he finished third in the state (Wyoming) in the 200-meter dash (23.57 seconds), fourth in the 400-meter dash (53.19 seconds), and 10th in the 55-meter dash (6.97 seconds).

  With no baseball team at his high school, Nimmo played American Legion ball and traveled to showcases. And the team played between 70 and 80 games per season. The farthest bus trip was 10 hours. And they'd go 7 hours to Omaha and even a 13-hour trip to Topeka, Kansas.

  "My dad was instrumental in where I am today," Brandon said. "He built a barn (on the six-acre property the family owned just north of Cheyenne) that was 60 feet long and 40 feet wide for me to use in the winter. He put a heater in there so I could hit in the cage. He even grabbed some turf and put it in there. We used it for team practices, and I got to go in there every day and hit off a tee."

• From 2005 to 2008, Brandon's older brother had a successful four-year career at the University of Nebraska. Bryce Nimmo hit .266 with six home runs, 80 RBIs and 42 stolen bases in 208 games for the Cornhuskers.

  It was the way Bryce dealt with adversity, though, that stuck with Brandon, who would often make the seven- or eight-hour trip from Wyoming to Nebraska to see his brother play.

  "He's gone through just about everything that baseball can throw at you, failure-wise, so we always talked about how Bryce was kind of the guinea pig for us with high-level baseball and learning what you have to do to put the past behind you," said Nimmo in 2012. "Anything that I experience, he's been through it.

  "I call him, I call my dad, and that support system really helps with putting the past behind you, having someone to vent to," said Nimmo. "That's really key for me. I need 10 minutes to vent and then it's out of the system. We don't talk about it anymore."

• In 2012, Baseball America rated Nimmo as the third-best prospect in the Mets' organization in both 2012 and 2013. In 2014, they had Brandon at #8 in the Mets' farm system.

  He was back up to #3 in the Mets' organization in the spring of 2015, and at 5th-best in the off-season before both 2016 and 2017 spring trainings.

• Brandon has outstanding makeup. That makeup allows him to get the most out of his ability with solid preparation and mental toughness.

  His manager in 2012 at Brooklyn, Rich Donnelly, said, "I've hardly met anybody like him. I have 8 kids, including 5 sons, and would be honored to have him as my son. I've met his parents, and I know why he's the way he is.

  "Nothing gets inside what he does on the field. He hasn't been affected by anything. He could be the number one draft pick of all time and you're going to get the same effort, the same work ethic and the same come-to-the-ballpark, grind-it-out effort every day.

  "He's beyond special," Rich continued. "If you wrote down all of his qualities and then put his name up there and I asked, 'Who are you talking about?' You would say Derek Jeter or Craig Counsell.

  "We try to teach the phrase, 'Instant Amnesia' in baseball. Nimmo already has it. If he has a bad at-bat and the next time up he hits a single, it's like nothing ever happened. What's important to him is anything he can do to help us win a ball game."

• In 2013, Brandon ranked third in the low Class A South Atlantic League with 71 walks and fourth with a .397 on-base percentage.

• July 3, 2014: After learning of his promotion to Double-A, after just one hour of sleep, after two flights that took him from sunny Florida to upstate New York, the outfielder was packing his bag, readying to embark on a five-hour bus ride to Bowie, Maryland. Strength and conditioning coach Jason Griffin told him he could just leave it at his locker. Here, in Double-A, Nimmo and his teammates don't have to carry their own bags.

  "I was like, 'Dang, all right, this is nice, this is nice,'" Nimmo said. "Just leave it right in front of your locker and they take it on the bus.

  "It's just a little thing. As you move up, you get pampered a little bit more. It's nice that the focus is for you to be able to focus on the game and not the outside stuff. It's the little things that make a difference."

  At an age when many are getting ready for their senior year of college—or just beginning their professional careers, if they were drafted—Nimmo has reached the second-highest rung on the Minor League ladder.

  Nimmo has carried with him the hype of a first-round pick since the Mets made him the 13th overall selection in 2011, and that has followed him everywhere he's been. It manifested itself in the form of autograph seekers, all of whom left with smiles. Nimmo filled every request after a 4:30 a.m. arrival in New Britain.

  "I'm enjoying it up here," Nimmo said of Double-A. "It's a new level, but I'm excited for what it has to teach me. It's still baseball. It's very, very minute changes. Just looking to learn from it and keep adjusting.

  "It's pretty much been me," Nimmo said. "Normally I don't miss mistakes a lot, and when I'm not doing well, I'll miss mistakes sometimes. Maybe I'll foul them straight back or something like that. That's been one of the things that I've been able to notice. When I'm going well, I'll usually take as many swings as I do have at-bats."

  According to Nimmo, who is a center fielder by trade but has dabbled in left with Binghamton, his most significant stride this season has been his range in the outfield. He said instead of watching the ball until he fields it, he'll read it off the bat, put his head down, sprint to "a spot" and pick it up again. This allows him to cover more ground quickly and forces him to get better reads.

  "It's something I hadn't really trusted myself with before," Nimmo said. "Right off the bat, you need to have an idea of where that ball is going to end up, and that just comes from repetition, repetition, just practicing. That's the one thing we emphasized on in Spring Training they said they'd like me to work on, and I did, and it kind of just clicked with me. I've been able to put it into play a lot."

  "It's nice to get affirmation that you're doing things right," Nimmo said. "That brought another level of excitedness for me, and even more motivation." (Tim Healey - MLB.com - 7/3/2014)

• Back in 2014, Nimmo raised eyebrows the day he walked into his first big league camp. Gone, in Nimmo's recollection, was the "scrawny little kid" the Mets selected in 2011. In his place was a grown man who spent his winter at the IMG Performance Academy in Bradenton, Florida, learning to eat right and packing on 20 pounds of muscle. Brandon then came to 2015 spring training with 8 percent body fat.  

  Nimmo proceeded to enjoy a breakout summer, elbowing his way into the landscape of the game's best outfield prospects. So although the Mets reassigned him to Minor League camp in their first round of big league cuts, Nimmo is confident he will be back before long.  

  "I need to be more consistent with hitting," said Nimmo, who appeared in only two Grapefruit League games due to a left thumb injury. "Obviously a little more power would be nice. But these are things that come with experience, and they're things that just come with playing this game and getting older. My big, big goal is to stay healthy. And that's really hard to control, but I'm going to try and do everything I can to control that, so that I can play every day, be out there and just get the at-bats. Because doing that, I'm going to learn the things that I need to learn."  

  Translating his new physique into results, Nimmo is, in that sense, vindicating the Mets. "Some of it may just happen with maturation and age," vice president of amateur scouting and player development Paul DePodesta said. "But a lot of it comes from a young man taking ownership of his career in a profession. That's hard for a 19- or 20-year-old to do. But someone with Brandon's makeup, he's taken advantage of the resources available to him, and he's doing everything he can to be as good as he can possibly be. (Anthony DiComo - MLB.om - March 13, 2015)

• In 2016 at Las Vegas, Brandon led the Pacific Coast League with a .423 on-base percentage and finished second with a .352 average. He made his big league debut in June 2016.

• August 4, 2016: Brandon's adventure began at approximately 3:40 p.m. ET on August 3, when he left New York City for Las Vegas. Optioned back to the Mets' Triple-A affiliate to receive steadier playing time, Nimmo was at peace with his demotion.

  He landed around 7:00 p.m. PT, grabbed his bags and hopped in an Uber, which whisked him off to his apartment. Arriving there 15 minutes later, Nimmo received the first of several frantic calls. Yoenis Cespedes was heading to the disabled list. Please report back to New York immediately.

  So Nimmo turned around, reversed his route to the airport, grabbed a quick meal past security and boarded a 10:00 p.m. PT red-eye flight back to New York. All told, he was in Las Vegas for about three hours, most of those spent at the airport.  And when Nimmo arrived in New York, of course, there was traffic.

  "It's kind of hard to sleep on the plane when you're upright," Nimmo said. "I had the exit row, but those don't lean back. So it was tough. I think I pieced together like three hours of sleep on the plane, then got like four or five when I got back to the hotel. But I'm glad to be back. Here, you run on adrenaline pretty easily."

  When Nimmo walked into Yankee Stadium at 4:00 p.m. ET, teammate Josh Edgin pointed out that he was wearing the same clothes he left in the day before. Nimmo was also without his equipment bag, which the Mets had shipped separately to Las Vegas. So he had to borrow a glove for that day's game. (DiComo - MLB.com)

• January 2017: Nimmo committed to play for Italy in the World Baseball Classic in March.

• Dec 7, 2017: For eight months, Mets players Brandon Nimmo and Travis d'Arnaud spent much of their time together, both in Spring Training and throughout the baseball season. They discussed their impending weddings, both set to take place on the same weekend in November. Then they parted ways for the winter . . . or so Nimmo thought.

  Weeks later, the Mets outfielder walked to the breakfast buffet at a hotel in Maui only to see his teammate standing right there.

  "He hadn't planned his honeymoon yet when we talked last," Nimmo said. "He texted me earlier that morning, but I hadn't read it yet. I just went to breakfast. And then I just saw him walk to the buffet. I was like, "Travis! Travis!" And then we ended up going snorkeling for turtles."

  Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki also revealed that he often has FaceTime sessions with Jacob deGrom. Apparently, the Mets just can't get enough of each other.

  "I just thought that was hilarious," Nimmo said. "We spend all this time together and then we all go our separate ways, and somehow we end up still seeing each other by happenstance. Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean." (A DiComo - MLB.com - Dec 7, 2017)

  BIG ON CHRISTMAS

• Here's a holiday-themed Q&A with Brandon, who shares how he spends his Christmas in and around snowy Wyoming:

  MLB.com: What was a typical Christmas like for you growing up? Nimmo: On Christmas Eve, would always go to a town called La Junta, Colorado and spend that with my grandparents—my dad's parents. And then for Christmas Day, we would normally come back and spend that with just my immediate family—my brother and my sister in Cheyenne. Now we've come up with a tradition where we like to go up to Happy Jack in Wyoming. It's an old abandoned ski area. I don't do it anymore, but everybody would hop on inner tubes or sleds and take them down the ski jump. Even though I can't do that anymore, I'll go up and have fun, so now we do that on Christmas Day in the afternoon.

  MLB.com: You recently became engaged. Have you been spending recent holidays with your fiancée? Nimmo: Yeah, for the past two years, she's been coming out to Wyoming. This year, we're all going to meet in Omaha, Neb., because my brother's on call for work, so we're going to take Christmas to him. It'll be a new tradition. But the premise of it all is to get the family together. We have a really tight-knit family, and we really do love and enjoy each other. I'm very, very blessed to have that, so we like to enjoy it all the time.

  MLB.com: What was your favorite Christmas gift growing up? Nimmo: As a family one Christmas, we got a foosball table. Santa brought it. And I was like, 'Yes! Santa brought an amazing present!' We had that downstairs. That was a lot of fun because my dad, he played foosball, too. It was another way for my dad and I to connect, and I would play with my brother and sister, too. So I would say that one really stands out because it was a big one, a big present. I came running down the stairs, and we had a big foosball table all wrapped up. 

  MLB.com: Favorite Christmas movie? Nimmo: I really love "A Christmas Story." Oh, man. I watch the marathon, the 24-hour one, but we also have it on DVD. My dad loves the "fragile" part. We even have a leg lamp that we bring out. Mom won't let it come out this year, but my dad loves it. I thought it was awesome. It's a major award! I love that movie. It's a family tradition to watch that." (A DiComo - MLB.com - Dec 23, 2016)

  MLB.com: What was a typical Christmas like for you growing up in Wyoming? Nimmo: For us, it was normally white and chilly. We usually had snow on Christmas. I remember hot cocoa, apple cider. And then we would always wait until Christmas morning to open up the presents. When I was young until I was probably like 12 or 13 years old, I could hardly sleep the night before. Christmas was always my favorite time of year. It was giving, it was presents, it was time with family. As I got older, my sister and my brother would go off to college and that meant time with them again. So for me, it's always held a special place in my heart.

  MLB.com: What sorts of foods did you have? Nimmo: Normally we'd have a honey-glazed ham. My mom would always make twice-baked potatoes, and we'd have these other special potatoes that my grandma would make that were cheesy with cornflakes on top. They were amazing. We definitely got our starches. My dad would have some eggnog with some cinnamon or nutmeg on top.
  
  Another big thing was divinity candy, which is extremely hard to make. You have to get the sugar just right where it's malleable, so I remember that always being stressful for mom when she would make the divinity candy and fudge. But I do remember it being very, very good. It's pretty much pure sugar. 

  MLB.com: Now that you're spending your offseason living in New York, what does going back and spending time with your family at Christmas mean to you? Nimmo: It's really, really special because family time is fewer and farther between now. With us kind of spread out across the country, it is very, very nice. That's the main reason that I like Christmas is to get back together with family. Everybody makes it a priority and you miss that time.
  
  There's really nothing like holidays in New York because everything's to the max. When my parents were down here right after Thanksgiving, I took them down to Saks Fifth Avenue to see the lights. We went to Rockefeller Center, and I showed them the skating rink. They've got it all decorated out. So we really do enjoy the holidays here too. (A DiComo - MLB.com - Dec 21, 2018)

• Dec 4, 2019: You would have thought it was Christmas Day at Citi Field. But the kids at the Mets’ ballpark were not complaining that presents arrived early. Why? The Mets were hosting schoolchildren at their annual Kids Holiday Party in the Foxwoods Club at Citi Field. The festivities lasted two hours and included lunch, games and holiday performances from the kids from Queens. And can they sing. One of the best performances came from the P.S. 16 children, who sung "O Christmas Tree" in English and Spanish.

  The Mets selected more than 100 students from local elementary schools to attend the event. Outfielders Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Davis along with mascot Mr. Met took part in the festivities. Nimmo played Santa, while Davis played the Baseball Hitting Elf. There’s Davis handing over Christmas presents to Nimmo, who then gave the gifts to the children. The kids couldn’t open the presents until they returned to school, and they received more gifts as they left Citi Field.

  “It was great of the Mets to open up to the community, and various schools meeting each other and performing,” said Nicole Bailey, the principal at The Learning Tree.

  After the event was over, Nimmo and Davis didn’t hesitate to share how much they enjoyed taking part.

  “I love that holiday cheer. It’s a very important time for us, just giving back to the community,” said Nimmo, who was in his third year participating in the event. “It’s very fun for us. I’d like to do this for 15, 20 years. Hopefully, I can beat [John] Franco, who was doing it the longest.”

  Said Davis, “I didn’t know I was dressing up for an elf. It was great for the kids to get presents and celebrate the holiday. I think Brandon has been a good Santa.” (B Ladson - MLB.com - Dec 4, 2019)

• 2020 Season: 55 Games, 186 At Bats, .280 Batting Average, 52 Hits, 8 Doubles, 3 Triples, 8 Home Runs, 18 RBIs, 33 Runs Scored, 1 Stolen Base, .888 OPS, 1.6 WAR

  The Mets began 2020 with Brandon their starting center fielder. The plan was for Nimmo to platoon with Jake Marisnick, but an early injury to Marisnick gave Nimmo the job by himself essentially. Nimmo took advantage, staying healthy to produce a fine overall season.

  Offense wasn’t an issue for Nimmo, who swung a good bat throughout the season and had a strong finishing kick, batting .338 with three home runs, eight RBI’s and a .930 OPS in September. Defense was a bit more of an adventure for Nimmo, who gave a good effort but simply was being played out of position due to the Mets’ need to try to fit as many of their best bats in the lineup as possible.  (Mike Phillips - November 19, 2020)

• 2021 Season: The 30-year-old made a case to stick around for the long haul with the team after continuing to prove his value as a top-of-the-order bat. For the third time in four seasons, Nimmo posted an on-base percentage greater than .400 (.401) while posting an .838 OPS in 92 games last season.

  Since the start of the 2016 season, Nimmo’s .383 career on-base percentage ranks sixth amongst active players in all of Major League Baseball behind Mike Trout, Juan Soto, Joey Votto, Freddie Freeman, and Bryce Harper.   (Joe Pantorno - Jan. 10, 2022)

  NISSAN ALTIMA

• March 23, 2022: The players’ parking lot at Clover Park features all the ornamentation one might expect from a group of young men with disposable income. On his first day as a Met, Max Scherzer rolled into town in a jet-black Porsche. Carlos Carrasco owns a Ferrari and a Rolls-Royce. Souped-up pickup trucks lord over the lot.

  Only one vehicle seems out of place: a light-gold, 2010 Nissan Altima that belongs to Brandon Nimmo. It does not have power seating nor Bluetooth capabilities. The dashboard is cracked from more than a decade of sun exposure. When Nimmo wants to listen to music, he must choose between a radio tuner, a CD player or an auxiliary cord that plugs into his phone. 
  
  “But it still does what I need it to do,” Nimmo said. “When I throw luggage in the back, do I want to be doing that on a $100,000 Mercedes?”

• The answer, apparently, is no, even though Nimmo’s reasons for keeping the Altima in his garage are more sentimental than practical. When Nimmo received a scholarship to the University of Arkansas coming out of high school, his parents told him that he could use some of the money the family would have spent on an education to purchase a more reliable car.

  Ron Nimmo, Brandon’s father, was an accountant with a penchant for sniffing out a bargain, so he was pleased to find a Nissan dealership looking to rid itself of the few 2010 Altimas left on the lot. When the dealership offered a few thousand dollars off the MSRP, the marriage became official: Brandon Nimmo was the proud, new owner of a reliable, four-door vehicle that he could drive to wherever his baseball life took him.

  “It’s his baby,” said teammate Jeff McNeil.

  Every 5,000 miles, Nimmo takes the Altima for an oil change. Other than that, the car hasn’t needed much maintenance over the years, largely because Nimmo has only put around 65,000 miles on it. A year after he was drafted, Nimmo splurged on a used 2011 GMC Sierra, which he keeps in Wyoming and uses in that area. The Altima was reserved for local travel on the East Coast, where Nimmo quickly realized he had no desire for a luxury vehicle. 

  “When I got to New York City, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to be a defensive driver all the time,’” Nimmo said, noting that his insurance and taxes would be higher with a more expensive set of wheels. “People are always trying to cut in front of you. I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t need a nice car, because you’ve got to play chicken with these people anyway. If the Altima gets a little beat-up, I don’t care.”

  Then there’s the most important part: “It gets me from Point A to Point B.”

  Of course, Nimmo has taken plenty razzing over the years from teammates, many of whom are prideful in the quality of their rides. (It was not so long ago that Yoenis Céspedes made daily headlines for driving a different luxury vehicle onto the lot every day for a week.) Even fans will sometimes comment on Nimmo’s car when he stops to sign autographs, “though some of them will be like, ‘I love that you still have this thing.’” “Now, it’s almost like a part of me,” Nimmo said. “It’s almost nostalgic to me now.”

  As somebody who has already made $10 million in his career, Nimmo has at times considered buying a new car. He admits it would be nice to have a Bluetooth connection, maybe a backup camera to look for oncoming traffic. Plus if things break the way that Nimmo hopes, he will either sign a long-term extension with the Mets or cash in with a new contract as a free agent this winter, potentially earning many multiples of what he already does.

  But even if Nimmo caves and buys something new, he’s unlikely to send the Altima to the scrap heap. It still runs just fine. The Kelley Blue Book value is only a few thousand bucks, so as Nimmo sees it, “she’s worth more to me than that.”

  “It keeps me humble,” he said. “It kind of reminds me of where I came from. When I have a bad game, I can hop in and be like, ‘I’m glad I didn’t buy that $100,000 Mercedes.’ I’ll probably run her till she’s ragged, and then we’ll see what happens.” (A DiComo - MLB.com - March 23, 2022)

• 2022 Season: After making the switch to center field in 2020, he became a defensive liability. However, Nimmo drastically improved defensively once the Mets analytics department suggested he play further back in the outfield and cemented himself as an above-average fielder. His defense in 2022 was in the 91st percentile with six outs above average.

  While his tenure in Queens was riddled with injuries, Nimmo proved to be one of the best leadoff hitters in MLB when healthy. For his career, the 29-year-old is slashing .269/.385/.441 with a 134 wRC+ over 608 games.  (Chris Bello - October 26, 2022)

• Dec 9, 2022: Nimmo's personality is built upon an "aw, shucks" demeanor, the type he first showed New York when he signed with the Mets as an 18-year-old, first-round Draft pick more than a decade ago.

  Over the years, Nimmo grew as both a person and a player, but he never lost that outward innocence — the type that prompted many Mets fans to assume a certain sense of loyalty when Nimmo began to explore free agency last month.

  Nimmo made good on his reputation, agreeing to terms on an eight-year contract that will keep him a Met for most if not all of his career, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the deal. The Mets' first-round Draft pick in 2011, Nimmo has spent his entire professional life in the organization, hitting .269/.385/.441 with 63 homers and 213 RBIs over 608 Major League games.

• In 2022, the 29-year-old appeared in a career-high 151 games and produced 5.1 WAR, posting a .274/.367/.433 slash with 16 homers and 102 runs scored. He was the Mets' unquestioned leadoff hitter.

  It marked just the second time in seven seasons that Nimmo reached 100 games played. Despite his first-round Draft pedigree, he didn’t break in as a consistent starter for the Mets until 2018 and battled frequent injuries prior to 2022.

  "He had a good physical year where he, for whatever reason, he seemed to get through a lot of things that have been a challenge in the past, that didn't snowball into something where he had to sit out a lot of games," Mets manager Buck Showalter said this week at the Winter Meetings. "So that was good to see. He answered some questions there. He's capable of it."

  Over the past five seasons, Nimmo is tied for 16th among Major Leaguers (min. 2,000 plate appearances) with a 134 OPS+. The only regular center fielder in that group with a better OPS+ than Nimmo? Angels superstar Mike Trout, who is also one of only five players with a higher on-base percentage than Nimmo over that stretch.

• The Cheyenne, Wyoming native’s journey to the Majors was an unlikely one considering he didn’t even play high school baseball, with Wyoming being one of the only states that doesn’t offer it. After rising to prominence as a prospect while playing American Legion Baseball and appearing in other amateur showcase events, Nimmo became the first Wyoming native to be selected in the first round of the MLB Draft.

  Nimmo bounced around the outfield early in his career, but he has turned into a capable defender in center, to the point where the Mets were comfortable moving veteran Starling Marte to right field full-time after signing him to a four-year contract last offseason.

  Nimmo made all 151 of his appearances in center field during 2022. And his 6 outs above average tied him for 11th at the position (out of 46 qualifiers).

  "Brandon got better every year he played," Showalter said. "He improved."

  Now, the Mets intend to keep Nimmo as one of the centerpieces of their offense. Unlike pitcher Jacob deGrom, who spent his introductory news conference in Texas explaining why he chose the Rangers over the Mets, Nimmo remained loyal to the organization that drafted and developed him. He is the longest-tenured Met by far, and the last remaining link to a previous, less gilded era of Mets baseball.

  It is the Mets' hope that he can be part of its most spectacular era, as well. Already this offseason, Steve Cohen's Mets have spent close to half a billion dollars on Edwin Díaz, Justin Verlander, José Quintana, Nimmo and David Robertson. Additional improvements could still occur as the Mets look to move past deGrom and into an even brighter future.

  The deal for Nimmo is reminiscent of one that David Wright signed in 2013 to remain a Met for life. Shortly after Wright inked that contract, the Mets named him the fourth captain in franchise history.

  Reached via text message, Showalter did not commit to naming Nimmo captain, but added: "He'd be a consideration on a short list if so inclined." (A DiComo - MLB.com - Dec 9, 2022)

• It's not worth the risk.

  While the Mets will be well represented at this year's 2023 World Baseball Classic, as players such as Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor and Edwin Diaz, will be attending, Brandon won't be participating. 

  Nimmo signed an eight-year, $162 million deal with the Mets this offseason and has been working out at the team's spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla. since mid-December.

  Although Nimmo played for Italy in the 2017 WBC, he felt it was the right decision for himself and the team to sit out of this year's tournament.

  "Once I signed, I did consider it, but my past experience was that I did get injured in the last game against Puerto Rico in 2017. And unfortunately, with the travel being to Taiwan for Italy this year, I just felt like, you know what, that’s a risk I can’t take on signing this contract and being with this team and the way that Steve [Cohen] has set it up," Nimmo told reporters. "I would really kick myself if something happened. (Pat Ragazzo - Feb. 13, 2023)

• If the Mets didn’t re-sign Nimmo to an eight-year, $162 million contract over the offseason, they would’ve joined so many other teams in wondering the same question ahead of 2023: Where have all the two-way center fielders gone?

  “It’s hard to find a center fielder,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “It really is.” 

  Teams prioritize defense because the position demands players to cover so much ground. Front offices track players’ movements throughout games. According to Nimmo, the Mets’ analytics group shared data with him about how often he was using a 90-percent effort and a 70-percent effort. Nimmo said he was told that he reached maximum effort roughly 1 1/2 times as often as the other outfielders and about twice as often as the infielders.

  “It makes it a position that’s hard to be durable in, hard to be a great defender in, because it requires speed and if you have any little nicks or injuries or whatever, it affects that,” Nimmo said. “That wear and tear and being an elite defender like that, it takes a lot of speed, and it takes a lot of toll on your body and makes it difficult to produce at the plate. It’s a tough position to merge the two together.” He operates as the Mets’ leadoff hitter because of his elite on-base skills and speed. 

  Considering his myriad responsibilities, Nimmo plans to circumscribe his pre-game activity to maintain his health. Known for being a hard worker, the adjustment may not come naturally to him. Showalter and others have tried to emphasize his importance to the club in conversations with him. No longer is his presence in the outfield during batting practice a necessity, for example. “With the amount of ground that I cover, if I go out to BP every single day and go track balls, you’re going to break down at some point,” Nimmo said.

  During the Mets’ trip to Los Angeles last June, Nimmo met with his agent Scott Boras, who staggered him with statistics. One page showed a brief list of center fielders who have played 120 or more games at the position in consecutive years. Another page detailed a shorter list of center fielders who have produced quality numbers on offense and defense.

  “It really prepared me for how sparse the center field position is of guys who can do it both ways,” Nimmo said. “It opened my eyes like, ‘Wow, this is hard.'”

  When Nimmo arrived at the winter meetings to talk with teams, several coveted him. (Sammon/McCullough - Feb 27,2023 - TheAthletic.com)

• 2023 Season: The highlight of the outfield was Brandon Nimmo, who led the team with a .274 batting average while setting a career-high in home runs with 24. A shift towards more of a power approach unlocked more offensive potential for Nimmo, who also stayed healthy for the second straight year. (Mike Phillips - Oct. 4, 2023)

   

• He even added significantly more power to his arsenal. In 152 games in 2023, he slashed .274/.363/.466 while setting new career highs with 24 home runs and 68 RBI. He contributed exactly 30 doubles for the second consecutive season and even tripled six times, while consistently providing the Mets with an elite leadoff hitter.  

• Less than two hours before a Mets’ game against the Nationals, Brandon showed up at the field wearing a bandage on his forehead and a hospital bracelet on his wrist.

  Nimmo woke up confused and scared one morning after fainting and hitting his forehead in a hotel bathroom. He doesn’t remember much from the incident. He doesn’t even know exactly what he made contact with. Nor does he know how long he was out for. After his trip to an emergency room, Nimmo said he passed all tests — “CT scan, EKG and all the tests we can think of,” he said — and may return to the Mets’ lineup at his usual spot in left field soon.
  
  Nimmo woke up around 5:15 a.m. His stomach wasn’t feeling great. So he decided to go to the bathroom. While in the bathroom, he caught a cramp in his leg. He said when he cramped up, he then got up really fast, went to get water and returned to the toilet — after that, he cannot recall what happened.
  
  His first memories from there: Waking up on the floor confused about how he ended up there. When he pushed himself up off the ground, blood gushed from his face. “I never had anything like this happen where I blacked out and I literally cannot tell you what happened,” Nimmo said. “I had all kinds of guys with me yesterday who can vouch that I didn’t have any alcohol. I didn’t drink at all. I’m not really sure why this happened.”
  
  Nimmo said that doctors told him that what most likely happened was that the cramp spiked his blood pressure and got his heart rate up quickly. He also had a tingling in his hands and felt hot just before fainting. 

  After not even requiring stitches, Nimmo said he’s grateful that he can soon return to play — even though the club will continue to monitor him.

  Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, “I think we got lucky there.” (Sammon - Jul 1, 2024 - The Athletic)

           TRANSACTIONS

• June 2011: The Mets chose Brandon in the first round (#13 overall), out of East High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He signed for a bonus of $2.1 million with scout Jim Reeves.

• Jan 10, 2020: Nimmo and the Mets avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $2.2 million deal.

• Nov 6, 2022: Nimmo elected free agency.

• Dec 8, 2022:  Nimmo agreed to terms on an eight-year, $162 million contract.

• Nimmo has a nice, lean frame and a smooth, effortless, compact lefthanded stroke. He is a pure hitter with a picturesque swing. And he has good raw power from very good bat speed. His swing doesn't have natural loft or pull, and the Mets are not interested in changing him, letting him develop naturally. His swing does not have any wasted movement.

  Brandon looks to be a top-of-the-order hitter, though one who could grow into a middle-of-the-lineup role if he enhances his power, which is only to the pull side. But he's best using the entire field, his lefty stroke geared for line shots more than lofty jacks.

  “Getting a little bit more juice in the bat, a little bit more power, also helps (on pitches) you maybe get jammed on a little bit," Nimmo said in 2015. "You have enough strength to push them over the infield now and get a little base hit out of it. And then the balls you don’t quite catch perfect you maybe turn into doubles instead of flyouts.”

  Nimmo grades 55 for his above-average hit tool, and he gets a 50 for his power.

• On-base ability—that is what Nimmo provides for a team. He excels at working counts and lining the ball to left field if pitchers work him away.

• Brandon has the ability to center the ball on the barrel of his bat with impressive frequency.

  He will hit for average with his all-fields approach, frequency of hard contact and willingness to attack first-pitch fastballs.

• Nimmo has a good eye at the plate, impressive plate discipline, a real good feel for the strike zone, and should be an above-average hitter.

  Now, all of that is true. But he still struck out over 25 percent of the time in 2013 and 23 percent of the time in 2014. He did drop it a bit more to 20 percent in 2015, over three levels in the minors.

• As he gets stronger, he could add loft to his swing to turn some doubles into home runs.

• Nimmo sees a lot of pitches, so he could fit as a leadoff hitter. He has an impressive ability to work counts.

  Brandon has the ability to attack pitchers who try to take advantage of that by sneaking in a first-pitch fastball. He has the power to handle those, and in the spring of 2015, he has added 20 pounds of strength since signing. He has the power to punish those mistakes, rather than just serving them to the gaps. Scouts still are projecting to get Nimmo to above-average power.

  Nimmo has made significant strides in 2013 and 2014, by adding strength. He now can sting the ball when he works himself into hitter’s counts, and he has the knowledge of the strike zone to get into those counts. He may not ever have enough power to fit as a profile corner outfielder. But he’s shown scouts that he should be able to stick in center field, where his on-base skills and gap power both would play.

• Brandon built a career .389 on-base percentage in the minors (as of April 2017). And in 2016, he established career-best marks for strikeout rate (16.4 percent), home runs (11) and isolated slugging percentage (.189). That year, he also led the PCL in on-base percentage.

  But overall, Nimmo has the best strike-zone judgement in the Mets' organization (April 2017). He works deep counts, takes walks and hits the ball where it’s pitched, making him an above-average hitter with average power. With a muscular 6-foot-3 frame, Nimmo shows plus raw power in batting practice and probably could hit more home runs if he hunted early-count fastballs.

• May 2020: Among the 414 batters who saw at least 300 pitches outside the strike zone last season, Nimmo swung at only 17.9 percent of them to rank 16th in the Majors, according to Statcast. Just below him on that list is Joey Votto, widely considered to possess the league's best eye.

  For Nimmo, part of that is thanks to an uncommonly patient approach that saw him offer at only 62.3 percent of pitches inside the strike zone in 2019, good for the lowest rate on the Mets. But much is also due to his keen batting eye and pitch recognition, which he trained as an amateur in Wyoming and hones constantly using video and strike-zone drills as a professional. It has paid dividends.

  Over the past three seasons, Nimmo ranks eighth in the Majors in pitches per plate appearance (among hitters with at least 1,000 PAs). And sixth in walk rate behind superstars Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Votto, Juan Soto and Bryce Harper.  – Anthony DiComo

• April 2020 scout's take: "He’s my pick to click right now. He’s going to bounce back huge. Last year he was kind of launch-angling everything. This year, he’s making a lot more of an effort to use the whole field and that’s really his game. He’s not a center fielder and they’re going to have him play there every day, so maybe his advanced metrics like WAR and all that might not cast him in such a favorable light. But I think with the bat, as long as he’s healthy, he’s worth keeping an eye on. I’d bet on him having a pretty good year offensively.”

• June 30, 2024: Nimmo hit his 100th career home run. 

• Brandon can play all three outfield positions. And his long strides enable him to cover enough ground in center field, where he's an average defender with a decent arm (45 or 50 grade).

• Nimmo's center field defense was raw early in his pro career, as he tended to break back on balls before coming in.

  But by 2015, Brandon was getting good jumps in center and had improved his first-step quickness. Brandon takes his pre-game shagging routine seriously, which scouts notice.

  He has fringy arm strength—enough to see at least some time in right field and has added greater accuracy with more coaching. His bat likely would fit better in center field if he can handle the defensive assignment.

  And we think he can, with his plus instincts and reliability. He really impresses with his grace and athleticism in center field. His range is only average, as is his arm, but he is fun to watch.

• He throws well enough (a 50 arm). And he tracks the ball well in center, grading at 50 for his overall defense, average for the Majors.

• Brandon runs a 6.55-second 60-yard dash. He is an above-average runner. But he lacks the initial burst that would make him a real weapon for stealing bases. So he is average on the bases, for a 50 grade.

• Nimmo runs the bases intelligently. And he steals an occasional base.

• Brandon has maintained his speed even as he has bulked up.

• Fall 2009: In his junior season of high school football, Brandon tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. So Brandon spent most of the summer of 2010 playing with a brace on his knee.

• August 5, 2012: Brandon was on the D.L. after being hit in the shoulder by a pitch from Auburn's Brett Mooneyham.

• March 2013: A purple tinge embedded near the base of the fingernail on Nimmo’s left thumb provided evidence of his run-in with a pitching machine. 

  “It went off the label,” Nimmo said of the incident that took place during a bunting drill, “and it just hit the barrel of the bat and came straight back and took my thumbnail straight back.”

  Nimmo said the Mets medical staff cutoff his batting glove and bent the nail back into place. He missed a few days waiting for the finger to heal.

  Although an MRI performed in Savannah did not detect it, Nimmo actually had a dislocated joint and partial tear of a couple of ligaments in his left hand.

  “So I played the rest of the season with it,” Nimmo said. “I let the people know afterward it still wasn’t all the way there. I went to New York, and that’s when we found out everything that happened. Then we went to Cleveland, too, and saw a pretty good hand doctor there, Dr. Thomas Graham. He said, ‘It isn’t going to change things. You don’t need surgery. They’ve already repaired themselves. You’re just going to have to get it stronger.’"

  “We felt like nothing was really wrong there,” Nimmo said. “The one thing I noticed was I never fouled so many balls straight back. I didn’t quite have my top hand on top of the bat. It happens. You’ve got to learn how to play with injuries sometimes.

• March 2015: Nimmo was slowed for most of spring training with a left thumb injury which came about when he was jammed by a pitch.

• May 17, 2015: Brandon was on the D.L. with a left knee/ACL strain.

• January 27, 2016: Nimmo had a partially torn tendon in his left foot. He was fitted with a walking boot.

• April 1, 2017: Nimmo began the season on the 10-day DL with a Grade 1 hamstring strain.

• July 8-28, 2017: Nimmo was on the DL with a partially collapsed lung.

• August 16-28, 2018: Nimmo was on the 10-day disabled list with a bruised left index finger.

• May 21-Sept. 1, 2019: The Mets’ placed Nimmo on the injured list due to a stiff neck. He learned that he has a bulging cervical disc pushing on a nerve in his neck and that he is suffering from the effects of whiplash. He received a medical steroid injection to reduce the inflammation in his neck.

• Feb 26, 2020: Nimmo was a late scratch for a spring training game because the Mets wanted to send him for extra cardiac screening. The team said its cardiologist recommended the additional testing, which Nimmo completed. Manager Luis Rojas indicated that it likely stemmed from an issue with outfielder’s pre-camp physical. Rojas said he did not know there was a problem with Nimmo’s test results until batting practice.

  Feb 28, 2020: Given a clean bill of heart health, Nimmo returned to Mets camp in high spirits, rejoining the starting lineup two days after the Mets scratched him to undergo cardiac screening.

  “I guess I have a little bit larger heart. Hey, I’ve got a lot of love to give,” he said jokingly.

  The reality, Nimmo said, was that the Mets scratched him due to an issue their cardiologist flagged on his Spring Training entry physical. Explaining it as an “irregular heartbeat,” Nimmo said he became aware of the issue during similar testing four years ago. The Mets told him at the time that it was a non-issue, but team doctors wanted to retest it this week to make sure the walls of his heart had not thickened.

• May 3-July 2, 2021: Nimmo was on the IL with a bruised left hand. He said he felt like his hand “exploded” when he fouled off a 97-mph Zack Wheeler fastball at Citizens Bank Park. Subsequent testing revealed a bone bruise in his left index finger. 

  He learned midway through his rehab that he was dealing not with a nerve issue in his hand, but rather a ligament that partially detached from the bone. 

• Aug 2, 2021: Nimmo initially felt a twinge in his right hamstring while making a diving catch on July 30 against the Reds. He appeared as a pinch-hitter two nights later and was back in the starting lineup Aug. 2 in Miami. The Mets subsequently scratched him minutes before the first pitch of that game due to a less-than-perfect performance test, but he again appeared as a pinch-hitter.

• Sept 4-17, 2021: Nimmo was on the IL with right hammy strain.

• April 15-19, 2022: Nimmo was on the Covid-19 IL.

• Sept. 30-Oct 2, 2023: Nimmo was placed on the injured list with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder.