Brandon Nimmo was the Mets’ best homegrown position player since David Wright

Hustle. Loyalty. Respect.

There might only be one other person in this world that can be described better using this maxim than Brandon Nimmo; among other things, Nimmo is known for always hustling on field, wanting to remain a Met for his entire professional career, and always having time to give back to the fans who have been rooting him on. A salt of the earth son of Wyoming who always kept his head down and went about his business on the field without pomp and circumstance, Nimmo became a franchise player right under our noses.

In the ten years he spent with the Mets, Nimmo batted a cumulative .262/.364/.438 in 1,066 games with 188 doubles, 32 triples, 135 home runs, 54 stolen bases in 72 total attempts, and 524 walks with 974 strikeouts. All things totaled, he posted a 124 OPS+ and a 126 wRC+. When factoring in his defensive contributions—which were generally scratch average until they began tailing off a bit recently—Nimmo was worth 28 fWAR/26.1 rWAR/.

I certainly didn’t realize it, and I’m sure so many out there didn’t either. Nimmo was a great complementary player to have on the roster, consistently putting up solid-if-unspectacular offensive numbers with a few All-Star caliber peaks here and there. Among players who have played 450 games or more (Robin Ventura technically has 444 games with the Mets, but I’m going to count him because setting the baseline at 450 looks much neater than 444), Brandon Nimmo is in the top fifteen in most offensive categories for all-time career performance in the orange and blue.

• Hits: 974 (12) • Doubles: 188 (10) • Triples: 32 (5)

• Home Runs: 135 (9) • Runs Scored: 593 (6) • Runs Batted In: 463 (12)

• Walks: 524 (5) • Hit By Pitch: 87 (2) • On-Base Percentage: .364 (9)

• On-Base Plus Slugging: .802 (14) • OPS+: 124 (T-8) • rWAR: 26.1 (8)

Since Nimmo made his professional debut on June 26, 2016, the Mets promoted 47 rookies who were either signed or drafted and then developed in-house within the organization. Only two others have had comparable careers to Nimmo: Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil.

Since being called up to the majors in 2019, Alonso is five-time All-Star and two-time Home Run Derby Champion who also won the 2019 Rookie of the Year Award. In 2008 total games with the Mets, he is a career .253/.341/.516 hitter who has slugged a franchise-record 264 home runs, good for a 135 OPS+ and 132wRC+. Combined with his defensive contributions at first base, Alonso has been worth 20.8 fWAR/23.3 rWAR. Jeff McNeil is a two-time All-Star won the 2022 2B Silver Slugger Award and was the 2022 National League Batting Champion. In 923 total games with the Mets, he is a career .284/.351/.428 hitter, posting a 117 OPS+ and 117 wRC+. Combined with his defensive contributions all over the field but mainly at second base and left field, McNeil has been worth 21.1 fWAR/23.0 rWAR.

At the time he was drafted in 2011, Nimmo was raw even among prep prospects, having been drafted out of Wyoming, where he did have the opportunity to play ball in high school, the sum of his organized experience coming from Region 7 American Legion amateur travel baseball. He showed tremendous athleticism, had a good swing, and came up to the plate with a plan of attack; our own Alex Nelson saw him as a player who could “hit .280 with 20-plus homers and a handful of stolen bases a year from a corner outfield spot.” Scouts and evaluators had mixed opinions as he began maturing within the Mets’ minor league system, with some seeing him as an everyday corner outfielder who could spell center in a pinch and others seeing him as a fourth outfielder who did not have enough in-game power or defensive ability to claim an everyday spot.

Ultimately, Nimmo’s development track followed the best case scenario of outcomes, and Brandon has been the most valuable homegrown Mets position player since David Wright made his debut back in 2004. Nobody better than Kanyon Brandon!