Brandon Nimmo’s transition from an on-base machine to something of a power hitter still has its pitfalls, to the point where the veteran New York Mets outfielder looks almost unrecognizable at the plate this year.
Through 27 games (prior to Monday night’s series finale in D.C. against the Nationals), the 32-year-old was batting .192 with a paltry .239 on-base percentage and a .575 OPS — a far cry from the lead-off man who had a .380 on-base percentage across the first eight years of his career.
“He’s not getting results, but he’s hitting the ball hard,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s kinda weird. We know he’s a better hitter than what he’s shown, but you always feel good about your chances when he’s at the plate. He’ll get through it. He’s fighting through it now. He’s a good hitter.”
Mendoza is not wrong in that regard. Nimmo’s 56.5% hard-hit rate ranks within MLB’s 94th percentile this season, according to Baseball Savant. His average exit velocity has gradually climbed from 89.4 mph in 2022 to a career-high 92.3 mph in 2025.
But what made him so invaluable to the Mets in years past is not showing up. His walk rate of 6.2% is more than half his career average (12.6%), which could be a byproduct of a different role.
Nimmo is not a lead-off man anymore. Mendoza started the season sticking him in the middle of the order, specifically in the No. 4 spot, as a gamble considering he hit 24 and 23 home runs in each of the last two seasons — the result of what Nimmo described as trimming some “fat out of my swing.”
But saying this is simply a small sample size and that Nimmo is running into some bad luck is disingenuous. Dating back to the second half of last season (88 games in total), Nimmo is batting just .190 with a .265 on-base percentage and .590 OPS.
The Mets have plenty of other power options to plug into the middle of their lineup. A little less stress on hard-hit rates or launch angles might, and a reversion to his approach three or four years ago when getting on base was the priority might do Nimmo some good.
