In a surprising move, the New York Mets are attempting an outfield shakeup, optioning Michael Conforto to the minor leagues while promoting top prospect Brandon Nimmo.
The New York Mets are continuing to move pieces around as they tinker with the roster in an attempt to jumpstart the offense. Jose Reyes will be added to the roster today, and the Mets are making another change as well.
Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com reports the Mets are optioning outfielder Michael Conforto to the minor leagues, and in a corresponding move are promoting outfielder Brandon Nimmo.
Confirmed, via source: the #Mets are promoting top outfield prospect Brandon Nimmo today. Michael Conforto will be optioned.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 25, 2016
Nimmo, 23, is the Mets’ No. 4 prospect, according to MLB.com.
In 63 games in Triple-A this season, Nimmo hit .328/.409/.508. His slugging percentage to this point was the highest of his minor league career, and his on-base percentage was the second-highest, only topped by a 2014 stint in High-A.
It’s important to note, though, that a majority of these numbers have come in Las Vegas, which notoriously favors hitters. That’s not to say that Nimmo won’t produce in New York. He’s been on the Mets’ prospect radar for quite some time, as he was the Mets’ first round pick in the 2011 draft.
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For the Mets, bringing Nimmo up comes at the expense of losing Conforto for the time being. In 65 games this year, Conforto hit .222/.296/.431. In all three categories, Conforto’s numbers are down from last season, in which he hit .270/.335/.506.
Conforto’s BABIP, .260, is also down from 2015, in which it was .297. This year, Conforto’s walk-rate is up slightly, 9.1 percent compared to 8.8 percent last season, but his strikeout rate has gone up as well. Conforto has struck out nearly 26 percent of the time (25.9 percent) compared to 20.1 percent last year.
The rationale with this move is the Mets may be quite simply going with the hot hand. Yes, Nimmo’s numbers may be inflated by playing in Las Vegas, but he is having quite a nice season nonetheless. However, that doesn’t make this move any less surprising. Conforto is a piece of the Mets’ young core, who is thought of highly. So much so, that he’s never even played in Triple-A. In 2015, the Mets promoted Conforto to the major leagues directly from Double-A.
Conforto will now be sent to Triple-A, with he and Nimmo essentially switching roster spots.
As a team, the Mets offense has hit .233/.308/.407 on the season, ranking 28th in all of baseball, ahead of only the 31-44 Philadelphia Phillies and the 25-48 Atlanta Braves. The Mets have scored just 267 runs entering Saturday, with the National League average being 321 runs.
This is certainly a significant move for the Mets that brings with it some shock. But at its core, this is the Mets trying to shake things up and get their offensive production out of the cellar as it pertains to the rest of the league. The Mets entering Saturday are three games back of the division-leading Washington Nationals. New York sits at 39-33 in second place. If Nimmo comes up and helps the offense, this move will look smart. If Nimmo struggles and Conforto lights up Triple-A pitching, the Mets have their options open to make further changes as the season progresses.