Brandon

Nimmo

Nimmo broke the shutout in the sixth inning with a solo homer to right field off J.T. Ginn. It was the only run the Mets would score on the day. The 32-year-old outfielder is slashing .208/.259/.472 with four homers over 58 plate appearances. Despite the low batting average, his outstanding hard-hit rate while limiting strikeouts bodes well going forward.

Nimmo has put 14 balls into play in five games and nine have been hit hard. He’s shown improved power these last couple of years, and it doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere this season. It’s a big part of why he’s now batting cleanup, rather than leadoff.

The Yankees used major leaguers up until the ninth, when they brought in Jordany Ventura. Nimmo took advantage, hitting his first homer in his final at-bat of the spring. He played all nine innings in left field today, so his troublesome knee must be feeling pretty good. He’ll likely spend some time at DH early on this season, but the Mets would certainly prefer to have Jesse Winker there and Nimmo in left field most days.

Nimmo has been relegated to designated hitter since returning from his knee injury, but he’s feeling well enough to play in the field for the Grapefruit League contest Monday. It’s a great sign that he’s back in the grass that soon, and there’s a good chance Nimmo could be playing in the outfield early in the regular season.

Nimmo said Friday that he expects to be ready to DH on Opening Day before adding that he believes the lingering soreness in his right knee is related to meniscus and cartilage issues, possibly related to an ACL surgery he underwent roughly 15 years ago. He received a gel injection earlier this month to address the issue and will continue to manage the issue throughout the year. At this point, it’s unclear when he’ll be ready to play left field again, but it might not be for a couple weeks, if not longer.

Nimmo explained that for sure he will be ready to function as the team’s designated hitter, but he’s still unsure on whether or not he’ll be able to play in the outfield when the regular season kicks off. Nimmo received a gel injection in his knee a couple of weeks ago to help resolve a lingering issue. It’s a situation that fantasy managers should continue to monitor, but it sounds like Nimmo should be in the lineup on Opening Day against the Astros in Houston.

Nimmo had missed the last 13 days after getting a gel injection in his knee. With two weeks to go until opening day, things are looking promising for Nimmo to start the season in the outfield and hit in the middle of the Mets lineup. We’ll have to see how his knee responds in the next few days to confirm that.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters Saturday that Nimmo is still expected to be ready for Opening Day. The 31-year-old veteran outfielder has been battling a lingering knee issue throughout camp. He underwent an MRI earlier this week that didn’t reveal any structural damage. He’ll remain shut down from baseball activities for a few days until the knee inflammation fully subsides. He still has a few weeks to ramp up in advance of New York’s season-opener, but it’s a situation fantasy managers should continue monitoring.

He’s currently only dealing with inflammation. This is good news for Nimmo, who said he’s waiting for “the last 10%” of the soreness to go away before getting back into the lineup. That should happen in the coming days, and there is no concern that he will miss time in the regular season.

That explains why Nimmo has only played in one game since Friday. The expectation is the 31-year-old will be back in the lineup Tuesday, so there’s no real reason to think Nimmo will be limited by the time the regular season comes around.