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Brandon Nimmo

Mets Notes: Conforto, Nimmo, deGrom

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The Mets had a rough end to their seven-game winning streak in Tampa Bay this weekend. They were handed a sweep by the Rays. They now limp into a high-stakes week of action against the Braves and Marlins facing the potential loss of more key regulars. Michael Conforto, in particular, appears heading to the injured list with a hamstring injury, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network (via Twitter). Conforto (along with Jeff McNeil) left yesterday’s game due to injury.

Brandon Nimmo, unfortunately, won’t be the answer. The Mets’ injured centerfielder is abandoning his rehab assignment and opting for further rest until he is without pain in his finger, per Tim Healey of Newsday. Nimmo hasn’t appeared in a game since May 2nd.

The Mets could use him now more than ever, especially considering his hot start. Nimmo had raked to the tune of a .318/.430/.439 triple slash line across his first 80 plate appearances. With Albert Almora also on the injured list, the Mets will turn to Jake Hager, Jose Peraza and, perhaps eventually, prospect Khalil Lee to fill in. Super-sub Jonathan Villar is already in a regular role replacing injured regular J.D. Davis at the hot corner.

The good news is that Jacob deGrom could be back in time to start Friday’s ballgame, per Bill Ladson of MLB.com. He may still go on a rehab assignment, however, pending the results of a bullpen session on Tuesday. Friday against the Marlins is the earliest Mets fans will see their all-world ace back on the hill.

Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil Leave Mets’ Game With Injuries

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8:15PM: Conforto and McNeil will both receive MRIs, manager Luis Rojas told Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News and other reporters.  According to Thosar, Rojas’ comments seemed to imply that Conforto’s injury could be of greater concern than McNeil’s problem.  McNeil said his injury was a “carry over” from the cramping issues that recently sidelined him for a couple of games.

12:58PM: Mets outfielder Michael Conforto left this afternoon’s game against the Rays in the top of the first inning after pulling up lame while running to first base, Tim Healey of Newsday was among those to note (Twitter link). Conforto is dealing with right hamstring tightness, the Mets announced (via Mike Puma of the New York Post). Jake Hager replaced him in right field. Additionally, second baseman Jeff McNeil departed in the second inning with left hamstring tightness. McNeil, who was serving as the designated hitter in today’s interleague contest, was replaced at the position by catcher Patrick Mazeika.

It’s too early to know if either player is in danger of missing extended time. If Conforto winds up having to sit out, it’d be an especially difficult blow to a Mets outfield that’s already without Brandon Nimmo and depth option Albert Almora Jr. Nimmo, who has been out since May 3 with a left index finger contusion, was sent for further treatment due to continued pain, manager Luis Rojas told reporters (including Healey and Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News) this morning.

Hager has almost exclusively worked as an infielder in the minors, making him a more natural potential replacement for McNeil. Utilityman José Peraza has spent some more time on the grass, but he’s also more of an infielder by trade. If Conforto winds up missing time, the Mets could turn to prospect Khalil Lee, who was recently optioned to Triple-A Syracuse after receiving his first big league call earlier in the week. If McNeil has to miss some games, non-roster veteran Brandon Drury could be an option, although he’s off to a poor start in Syracuse and would need to be added to the 40-man roster.

Conforto is hitting .232/.358/.339 over his first 134 plate appearances this season. That marks a downturn in production for the impending free agent, who slashed a robust .274/.376/.499 between 2019-20. McNeil is also having a bit of a down year relative to his past level of production, hitting .242/.336/.374 in 113 trips to the plate.

Mets Place Brandon Nimmo On Injured List

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The Mets are placing outfielder Brandon Nimmo on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 3 (via Tim Britton of the Athletic). Catcher Patrick Mazeika has been recalled in a corresponding move.

Nimmo left last Saturday’s game against the Phillies with a left index finger contusion. He came in as a defensive replacement on Sunday but hasn’t hit since suffering the injury. After Nimmo missed another couple games’ worth of action, the Mets have elected to place him on the IL and free up a spot on the active roster.

Even a brief absence from Nimmo is a tough blow to a Mets’ offense that had hit an underwhelming .240/.324/.364 entering play today. The 28-year-old has been stellar in the early going, raking at a .318/.430/.439 clip over his first 80 plate appearances. Nimmo has long been excellent at avoiding outs, but he looks to have taken his game to another level in 2021. Among qualified hitters, only Mike Trout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bryce Harper have reached base at a better clip. Nimmo certainly won’t sustain a .465 batting average on balls in play, but he’s chasing fewer pitches than ever and should continue to draw plenty of walks when he returns.

With Nimmo out, the Mets figure to turn to Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora Jr. in center. Neither of those offseason signees has contributed much offensively this season after generally struggling at the dish in recent years.

Mets Place J.D. Davis On 10-Day IL

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MAY 3: The Mets have placed Davis on the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 2) and recalled righty Trevor Hildenberger, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Meanwhile, Nimmo is still active, but he’s not in the Mets’ lineup Monday.

MAY 1: The Mets’ 5-4 victory over the Phillies may have been a costly one, as New York saw two lineup regulars leave tonight’s game with injuries.  The Mets announced that Brandon Nimmo suffered a left index finger contusion that forced the outfielder to leave partway through a seventh inning at-bat, while third baseman J.D. Davis was replaced before the bottom of the seventh due to a left hand sprain.

X-rays were negative on Nimmo, which is a positive sign considering that Nimmo looked to be in pain after fouling off a pitch during his at-bat.  It isn’t clear how Davis hurt his hand — he struck out during a sixth-inning plate appearance and then played his position in the bottom of the sixth, seemingly with no issue.  It’s possible this latest problem could be related to Davis’ previous left hand injury, as he was hit by a Chase Anderson pitch on April 7 and ended up spending a 10-day minimum stint on the injured list.

Since returning from that injury, however, Davis has been among the game’s hottest hitters.  Entering tonight’s play, Davis had an outstanding .395/.489/.632 slash line and two homers over 45 plate appearances, with a 208 wRC+ that ranked seventh amongst all players in baseball with at least 40 PA.

Nimmo hasn’t been far behind in terms of productivity, hitting .339/.453/.468 in 76 PA heading into tonight’s game.  Nimmo’s .453 OBP was leading the National League, and ranked fourth overall in baseball (behind only Mike Trout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Yermin Mercedes) among qualified players.

Davis and Nimmo have represented a major chunk of the Mets’ offense thus far in the season, as apart from Pete Alonso, virtually the entire New York lineup has struggled to begin the season.  The Mets finished April ranked last in the majors in both runs and home runs, as well as 29th in team slugging percentage, 22nd in OPS+, and 20th in wRC+.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21

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The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.

We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.

I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.

Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)

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NL East Notes: Nimmo, Adams, Marlins, Kingery

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After undergoing more rounds of cardiac testing, Brandon Nimmo has been cleared to resume baseball activity, Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen told reporters (including Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News).  There was some concern yesterday after it was announced that Nimmo would be taking the extra tests after being scratched from a spring lineup, though it appears as though Nimmo can return to action as per usual.  The outfielder is already trying to rebound from an injury-shortened season, as a bulging cervical disk limited Nimmo to only 69 games in 2019.  While Nimmo is returning, however, Matt Adams will also be undergoing more cardiac tests.  The eight-year veteran signed a minor league contract with the Mets last month and is hoping to crack the roster as first base/outfield bench depth.

More from the NL East…

  • Though the Marlins traded Zac Gallen to the Diamondbacks last summer, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro doesn’t expect the Fish to part ways with any of its other young rotation arms with big league experience.  The Gallen deal was unique in that Miami was able to acquire another very intriguing young player in Jazz Chisholm, and while such names as Caleb Smith, Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, and Jose Urena have drawn interest from other teams, the Marlins aren’t likely to move any more pitchers until they determine which of that group (as well as any of the other pitching prospects on the way up) are truly long-term pieces.
  • Scott Kingery put on some extra weight and muscle during the offseason to help combat the grind of the long season, and he told reporters (including The Athletic’s Matt Gelb) that focusing on a single position might also help keep him fresh down the stretch.  Throughout his two MLB seasons, Kingery’s play has suffered as the season has gone on, with a .576 OPS over 213 plate appearances in July and a .611 OPS in 157 September PA.  “The more your body gets worn down, the more you start recruiting muscles that you don’t want to be recruiting in your swing.  You’re just trying to find anything in your body to get your swing through rather than having it be free and easy like I want it,” Kingery said.  Becoming a primary second baseman could also help, as Kingery said that playing a super-utility role made him “gassed by the time the game was played.  It was a mental battle to try to figure out my routine and what I needed to do to get my mind and my body ready to play multiple positions.”  While the Phillies may still deploy Kingery in the outfield on occasion, the team’s current plan is to line him up regularly at second base or third base, depending on where Jean Segura is best suited.  Segura is himself changing positions, moving from his longtime shortstop spot to accommodate Didi Gregorius.

Health Notes: Clase, Nimmo, May, Stock

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The Indians are awaiting the results of an MRI on flamethrowing relief prospect Emmanuel Clase, the team told reporters Wednesday (link via Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer). The 21-year-old righty has been feeling discomfort in his latissimus dorsi recently, including during yesterday’s throwing session, per GM Mike Chernoff. Clase, armed with a triple-digit sinker, was the centerpiece of the trade that sent Corey Kluber to Texas over the winter. Cleveland received the young righty and backup outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. in that swap, so any notable injury for Clase would leave the team with a part-time outfielder (and, of course, salary relief) as the immediate return for Kluber. If healthy, Clase should factor prominently into the Cleveland ’pen in 2020. He made his MLB debut in 2019, pitching to a 2.31 ERA with a 21-to-6 K/BB ratio in 23 1/3 innings of relief for the Rangers.

Some more injury situations worth monitoring…

  • Brandon Nimmo gave Mets fans something of a scare today, though details surrounding his status are still somewhat sparse. Nimmo was scratched from today’s game after the team’s cardiologist recommended that he undergo additional cardiac testing, the club told reporters (Twitter link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Manager Luis Rojas eventually labeled the extra tests as “precautionary” and downplayed the severity of the issue, but it’s certainly out of the ordinary to see players go through multiple waves of cardiac examinations. The 26-year-old Nimmo missed a good chunk of the 2019 season due to neck issues and hit .221/.375/.407 through 254 plate appearances when healthy. Nimmo has been an on-base machine in his career, as evidenced by a lifetime .254/.387/.440 slash, but the 2018 season remains the only year in which he’s even played 70 games at the MLB level.
  • Prized Dodgers pitching prospect Dustin May is still being slowed by muscle pain in his side and hasn’t thrown off a mound since the first day of camp, tweets MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. May impressed in his MLB debut in 2019, pitching to a 3.63 ERA with 32 strikeouts and just five walks in 34 2/3 innings of work despite the fact that he just turned 22 this past September. He ranks within the game’s top 25 overall prospects at Baseball America, FanGraphs, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and The Athletic. However, between the acquisition of David Price, the return of Alex Wood and May’s early discomfort, it’s not clear whether the touted young righty will factor into the Opening Day mix for the Dodgers. He should play a significant role on their pitching staff in 2020 regardless, but he’s a ways behind the rest of the club’s pitchers in camp at this point.
  • Perhaps no team has seen more bullpen injuries than the Phillies over the past year, and it seems that trend is continuing. Manager Joe Girardi tells Matt Gelb of The Athletic that right-hander Robert Stock is dealing with forearm tightness — possibly a flexor tendon issue. That’s an ominous outlook for any pitcher, though at this point there’s no timetable or definitive diagnosis, as he’s still undergoing testing. Stock, 30, is far from a household name but is on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, so a notable absence would likely lead to some additional moves. He spent the past two seasons with the Padres, struggling through 10 2/3 innings in 2019 but posting a sharp 2.50 ERA with just under a strikeout per inning in 39 2/3 frames back in 2018.

Details On Mets’ Pursuit Of Mookie Betts

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Mookie Metts? It didn’t come to fruition, but the Mets did make an effort in December to acquire superstar outfielder Mookie Betts from Boston. The Red Sox ended up trading him to the Dodgers earlier this week.

One reason talks between the Mets and Red Sox broke down? The Mets weren’t open to moving infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil for just a year of control over Betts, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (they also wouldn’t give him to the Indians for shortstop Francisco Lindor). However, the Red Sox regarded McNeil as “integral” to a potential trade package, according to Sherman. Understandably, the Mets weren’t going to part with the versatile, inexpensive 27-year-old after he was one of the majors’ most effective offensive players from 2018-19.

While the Mets weren’t willing to surrender McNeil for Betts, they did offer packages centered on outfielder Brandon Nimmo and infielder/outfielder J.D. Davis (quality, affordable players in their own right), per Sherman. Those deals also would have included one of the Mets’ infield prospects in either Andres Gimenez or Ronny Mauricio, two top-100 farmhands. It seems the Mets, reluctant to absorb all of Betts’ $27MM salary, also would have tried to include one of their highly paid, unwanted veterans in outfielder Yoenis Cespedes or infielder Jed Lowrie in order to somewhat offset the money they’d have taken on had a deal with Boston gone through.

Considering that getting under the $208MM luxury-tax threshold was one of the main causes for the Red Sox’s decision to unload Betts (and left-hander David Price with him), adding Cespedes or Lowrie wouldn’t have been palatable for them. They wound up accepting the Dodgers’ offer of outfielder Alex Verdugo and two prospects – infielder Jeter Downs and catcher Connor Wong – saving a total of $75MM in the process.

Meanwhile, although the Mets went big-game hunting for Betts, their outfield appears as if it’ll enter 2020 with mostly the same cast. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, even though none of the team’s current options can rival Betts. However, to their credit, McNeil, Nimmo, Davis, Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith all had good seasons a year ago. It’s anyone’s guess what the Mets will get from Cespedes after injuries shelved him for the vast majority of the prior three seasons, but he’s back on a reduced salary and has always produced when healthy.

Mets Notes: Nimmo, Coaching Changes

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The Mets never entertained the idea of trading centerfielder Brandon Nimmo this winter, despite the rumors, and they’re excited about what he can do under new manager Luis Rojas, per Kevin Kernan of the New York Post (who notes that Nimmo played under Rojas thrice before on his way to the major leagues). An injury limited Nimmo’s effectiveness last season, sapping him of power and limiting him to just 43 games in the first half. Nimmo hit just .200/.344/.323 before the break while playing through injuries. The Mets look forward to a healthy season from Nimmo, especially after his return produced a .261/.430/.565 bounceback in September. Centerfield is a difficult position to fill league-wide, and Nimmo’s infectious personality and exceptional eye at the plate make him a valuable performer for the Mets and a key to their 2020 season. Let’s check in on some coaching changes within the Mets’ organization…

  • Former big league catcher Brian Schneider will join the Mets’ staff as a quality control coach, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Schneider joined the organization this winter as the new manager of the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, though he’ll never actually take over in that role. Schneider assumes the role vacated by new manager Luis Rojas, presumably completing Rojas’ staff.
  • The ripple effects of Carlos Beltran stepping down from his post as manager of the Mets continue throughout the organization as Chad Kreuter takes over Schneider’s post as the manager in Triple-A, per Tim Healey of Newsday. Kreuter, like Schneider, is a former big league catcher. He spent the past three seasons managing the Mets’ High-A affiliate in St. Lucie. His replacement has not yet been named. 2020 will be Kreuter’s fourth season with the Mets’ organization.

Details On Mets’ Pursuit Of Starling Marte

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Before shipping him to the Diamondbacks, the Pirates discussed Starling Marte in trade talks with the Mets. But it now seems the New York organization lacked especially serious interest in the veteran center fielder.

According to a report from Andy Martino of SNY.tv, the Mets declined to pursue any of three possible trade structures proposed by the Bucs. That included separate “package” scenarios “centered around” either J.D. Davis or Brandon Nimmo as well as one based around multiple top prospects.

It’s not especially surprising to hear that the Mets were disinterested in skimming from the top of their prospect pool. The club has recently parted with some notable young talent — most notably, in this memorable swap. The ultimate deal that did take place featured two quality, but far-off prospects from a well-stocked Arizona farm that could more readily withstand the loss.

Perhaps it’s also understandable that the New York org was not inclined to move Nimmo. He has had a few ups and downs and missed a big chunk of 2019 due to injury. But he’s also a rare talent in the on-base department, delivers value on the bases, and can play all three outfield positions. Through over a thousand career plate appearances, Nimmo owns a sturdy .254/.387/.440 slash — good for a 130 wRC+ that tops the career mean of teammate Michael Conforto (125 wRC+).

The most interesting news here is that the Mets were not really willing to discuss Davis in order to reel in Marte. True, he’s just 26 and has yet to reach arbitration (though he likely will next year as a Super Two). And Davis turned in a hefty .307/.369/.527 batting line with 22 long balls over 453 plate appearances last year. He rode a .355 BABIP to get there, though that was driven by exceptional contact numbers.

Clearly, the Mets believe that Davis can keep banging. It’s hard not to like what he showed last year. And he was a consistent producer in the minors, though his earlier MLB action didn’t leave cause for optimism. There’s some risk that the offensive profile isn’t an especially sustainable one. Of perhaps greater concern is the fact that Davis isn’t much of a contributor in other areas. He graded as a very poor baserunner (-2.8 BsR). While Davis is capable of lining up at the infield or outfield corners, metrics have generally panned his glovework.

It’s always hard to part with affordable, controllable players that have produced at the MLB level. In that regard, it’s hard to fault the Mets. But this is a season in which the team needs to win, and the roster would be in much better alignment with a true center fielder and one less corner piece. Whether there’s any realistic possibility of landing a new option in center isn’t clear. But there are likely still trade scenarios afoot involving some of the Mets’ corner players. More so than Nimmo or Davis, it’s still tough to know just what the team will do with Dominic Smith if he remains on hand.

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