The New York Mets selected Brandon Nimmo with the 13th pick of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft. The 6’3″ left-handed batter is a five-tool, high school outfielder. He attends Cheyenne East High School in Wyoming which unfortunately does not have a baseball team. Nimmo has showcased his talents as a teammate for Cheyenne Post 6 of the American Legion Baseball League. The speedy outfielder was slotted as the 30th overall pick by Wally Fish in the S2S Mock Draft.
What They Say:
Baseball America…
"Nimmo has natural power and is a smooth swinging lefty. He has speed, running a 6.5 60 yard dash, and has a good arm. He’s short to the ball and has outstanding barrel awareness, consistently squaring balls up and shooting line drives to all fields. He has a good eye at the plate and should be an above-average hitter. As he gets stronger, he could add loft to his swing to turn doubles into home runs."
ESPNs Keith Law…
"Mets will take Brandon Nimmo. Huge pick for them – finally drafting for ceiling!"
The Numbers:
Nimmo batted .454 his freshman season and an even .500 as a sophomore. Last season Nimmo hit .448 with 23 doubles and 15 homers in 212 at-bats. He walked 66 times and struck out 49 times. Nimmo also stole an impressive 34 bases without being caught. In 25 games this season Nimmo is hitting .567 over 67 at-bats. He has already racked up 13 doubles, 4 triples, 3 homers and 40 RBI. Nimmo is also 16 of 18 in the stolen base department. He has walked 30 times and struck out just 4 times so far this season. I would compare his numbers to a video game but I’ve honestly never seen numbers that amazing in my extensive gaming career.
Future:
The MLB Draft is perhaps the biggest crapshoot of all professional sports. Things become even dicier when you’re selecting a teenage position player from Wyoming. The numbers are amazing though and the ceiling is very high with Nimmo. He was the 2010 MVP of the Under Armour All-American game at Wrigley Field proving that he can compete with the best of the best.
He had ACL surgery in 2009 and is reported to have slowed up a bit this season on the base-paths. However, Nimmo continued to put up monster numbers this season so it must not be all that serious. I’m still curious to see whether or not the Mets are willing to pay above slot to ink him. Of course that’s if he decides to withdrawal his commitment to the University of Arkansas.
It’s hard for me to grade this ballsy pick by the Mets. As I’ve said before Nimmo has a very high ceiling which is awesome. However, I see the potential of him being a bust almost as high as him meeting his rather lofty ceiling. With Barnes, Gray, Reed, Bradley, Fernandez and Anderson all available I would have selected a pitcher if I were the Mets. Regardless, Nimmo will be a very interesting prospect to watch if he indeed signs with the Metropolitans.