51s’ Brandon Nimmo overcomes injuries, keeps faith for shot at majors
Brandon Nimmo is a self-proclaimed man of faith. Watch him on the field closely and it’s not uncommon to see him take a second to tap his chest and point skyward throughout 51s games.
When the center fielder suffered an injury (a posterior tibial tendon tear in his left foot) on Jan. 18, costing him valuable offseason training time and dashing most of spring training, Nimmo figured it was out of his control.
But through a variety of treatments — notably a platelet-rich injection, a walking boot and a lot of rest — Nimmo was back on the field playing nine weeks later.
Though his minor league career has been plagued by injuries (from wrist to knee to nose to foot) the 2011 first-round pick and Mets’ fifth-ranked prospect per Baseball America has begun the season fully healthy and ready to improve his game in hopes of an eventual call-up.
“I just kind of (said), ‘It is what it is. God wants what’s best for me even though I might want to be healthy right now. I’m just going to give it to him and just let it be what it is and try to take care of it now,’ and that really helped take a lot of stress off of me,” Nimmo said.
With the stress of the injury over, Nimmo has plenty of other things he wants to turn his attention to.
Namely, every single facet of the game.
“Hitting, fielding, first-step quickness, running strength, it all needs to be improved,” Nimmo said. “And it’ll continue to be improved even until I get to the big leagues and even after.”
Nimmo tweaked his swing a season ago. After the adjustments didn’t pan out the way he wanted them to, he had to spend time in the offseason paring it down to a simpler form.
Now that Nimmo has gotten his swing back to where he wants it to be, manager Wally Backman wants him to look for balls he can pull.
Nimmo hit just five home runs in 376 at-bats last season across three levels, but Backman thinks he has the potential to hit 15 to 20 in a season.
“He hasn’t showed us that yet in the organization, but I know the strength is there and the power is there,” Backman said. “(The) power is the last thing that comes.”
Backman praised Nimmo’s plate discipline, saying it was as good or better than many big leaguers — Nimmo took 48 walks to 78 strikeouts last season — while also saying there was plenty for him to work on.
A big focus right now is sharpening up on the mental side of the game, something he spent the spring picking big leaguers’ brains about.
That includes adjusting to the pitcher on the mound, how to approach certain counts and when to look for what pitches.
“That’s really where you try to improve … because most guys in the big leagues have a certain amount of talent,” Nimmo said. “What separates the guys who stick around for a long time is the mental side of the game.”
As players move up through each level, Nimmo said it becomes more about learning and adapting to that part of the game than just getting by on talent — though he’s got plenty of that, too.
“He’s got all the tools that you’re looking for in a player,” Backman said. “It’s our job to develop him.”
At this point, a year — or less — of development at Triple-A is highly welcomed by the 23-year-old.
After all, there was a point in time just a few months ago where he thought he might have to have surgery, wiping out most of the 2016 season.
“(I’m) very, very blessed to be back right now starting the season,” Nimmo said.
Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @betsyhelfand