Mets’ big Brandon Nimmo risk paying off as value continues to show every day

MIAMI — After Brandon Nimmo’s apparent first-inning triple was bizarrely taken away, and he was forced to stay at second base for a ridiculous reason, one inning later he made sure he could circle the bases by lining one out of the park that’s becoming a home away from home for the Mets. 

Major League Baseball isn’t always that easy, especially for a guy from a state where the main sports involve calves and bulls, not balls. But Nimmo is a guy still on the rise, getting better every day, and pulling the Mets along with him, as he did in their 9-3 victory over the Marlins on Sunday. 

Remember, he grew up in Wyoming, where rodeo is the state obsession. Nimmo reportedly wanted to ride bulls for a living when he was in grade school, but fortunately that’s not something they allow children to do (at least I don’t think so). 

Anyway, there’s no high school baseball in Cheyenne, either. It’s like another world. 

Back here, everyone told the Mets they were gambling big-time taking a Wyomingite with the 13th-overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, about a zillion picks higher than one had ever been taken before (exact number down below). By then, the Mets had him at the top of their draft board. They also liked long-playing baseball savants, Francisco Lindor and Javier Baez, two others who would eventually become Mets, one for longer than the other. But they were both gone by pick 13. 

3

There was risk taking such an inexperienced player, sure. But as Chad MacDonald, then the Mets’ scouting director and now a special assignment scout, said by phone Sunday, “Heck, there’s risk for everyone.” 

The Mets bet on Nimmo’s early understanding of the strike zone. They bet on his speed. And mostly, they bet on him as a human. They saw the potential and the desire. And he’s turned himself into an outstanding leadoff hitter, and an elite center fielder (one of the best according to the metrics), and an indispensable Met. But maybe still not a finished product. 

“I still have room to go, still have room to learn,” he said. “I’m always in learning [mode]. I don’t know if that will ever change.” 

It’s no surprise Nimmo is blooming late, and adding a terrific dimension to a Mets lineup that’s wavered a bit of late. Nimmo’s presence is even more vital now, as Starling Marte is out, with no timetable provided. Which makes sense as you can imagine how painful it is to hit with a fractured digit. If the Mets are playing shorthanded, the result of one of their league high 73 hit-by-pitches, it doesn’t feel that way as they continue on a September slate of games that looks suspiciously like a gift. Thank you, league office. 

3

After a week with too many surprises, the Mets won two straight laughers — it was 20-6 the last two days here where it feels like Queens thanks to the fan support — before heading back to actual New York to face the also-ran Cubs and never-ran Pirates, and possibly pad their lead. 

Nimmo’s first-inning travail notwithstanding — the umpires told the Mets the ball lodged under the left-field wall, but the Mets sent an official out there afterward to prove there’s no room for any ball to lodge — the Mets played one of their best games of the season on Sunday. Tomas Nido hit his first home run of the season and reached base four times, one of three Mets to do so. Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, who is threatening to win a batting title, did so as well. 

It’s a complete team, and Nimmo’s value is showing every day. Word is, the Mets told him at the All-Star break they’d like to discuss a long-term deal with the free agent to be after the season, which should come as no surprise. 

By now he’s caught onto everything but stealing bases. He doesn’t steal partly because he doesn’t want to risk making a needless out. But it’s also because he never developed that skill. 

3

He has elite (30 plus feet per second) speed, but that’s not his bag. At least not yet — though he did swipe his first base of the season Sunday. 

“We saw an opportunity,” Nimmo said. 

The Mets felt the same back at the 2011 draft. The previous high pick for a Wyomingite was pitcher Michael Beaver, picked 109th by the Phillies in 1966, the very first draft, well before teams knew what they were doing. 

The Mets liked Nimmo’s batting eye. But just as much, they liked the makeup. Which means they believed that he’d do what he could to make it work for him, and them. The guy you seeing running to first on a walk, that’s him. He is eager to please. 

If they were right about his baseball skills, MacDonald said they figured he was going to make sure he got there because of who he was as a person. 

He has arrived all right. They just hope his arrival as a star doesn’t come just before he’s leaving.