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New York Mets finding offensive spark from unlikely suspect

By Sonny Martinez

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 27: Brandon Nimmo #9 of the New York Mets takes a swing during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 27: Brandon Nimmo #9 of the New York Mets takes a swing during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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Even with the addition of Francisco Lindor, the New York Mets offense is being led by someone you might not expect.

When the New York Mets acquired Francisco Lindor from the Cleveland Indians on January 7, all eyes were on Flushing instead of The Bronx for the first time since the Mets’ postseason run of 2015.

Lindor was the Mets’ biggest acquisition since Yoenis Cespedes, who was ironically the spark for the 2015 NL Pennant club. Lindor’s bat in the middle of the order surrounded by Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto was to be what finally got the Mets over the offensive hump.

Coming into Saturday, the Mets are 5-3. They’ve played the lowest number of team games this season but they actually lead the NL East due to winning percentage. It’s a very small sample size, but the Mets have looked good.

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Even with some of the star power the Mets possess, it’s not the superstars that are leading the charge early in the year.

Instead, it’s Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo’s an underrated player but has yet to find his stride. This year, his fifth year in the majors at 28 years old, Nimmo has hit form the leadoff spot in seven of eight games and is starting to come into his own.

Nimmo’s defense has never been in question. He has a career .991 career fielding percentage with only six errors. He’s never won a Gold Glove, but he’s just about as sure a thing as there is in the outfield.

Nimmo has always been a solid on base guy with a .390 OPB coming into 2021. His club ranks second in the entire league in on-base at .359. A lot of that has to do with the red hot start Nimmo, whose .595 on base percentage leads the league, is 51 points higher than second place. For some perspective, in 2021, he’s 191 points ahead of last year’s leader Juan Soto is this year.

They’re also 7th in the league in team batting average. Once again, Brandon Nimmo leads that department in the league at .483.

His 14 hits are buried on the leader chart, but once again, his team has played the least amount in the league. Those 14 hits would lead the Cubs despite the Mets playing eight games to the Cubs 14. Nimmo’s 14 hits are as many as Yankees stars Clint Frazier and Giancarlo Stanton….combined.

It’s unrealistic to think that Nimmo can keep up this pace. Asking him to hit even .350 is much, but if he can stay around the .290 or even .300 mark, that will be a huge benefit to the Mets.

But the big key for Nimmo is his biggest strength: on base. We all know how good the pitching is. Just just in case you don’t: they’re second in the majors in ERA, third in WHIP, and eighth in batting average against. As the Mets have shown, excellent pitching doesn’t mean anything if you can’t score. Nobody knows that more than Jacob deGrom.

Guys like Lindor, Alonso, and Conforto — who are hitting a combined .204 — aren’t going to stay cold forever. When that lineup heats up, it’s pertinent that Nimmo is on base for a New York Mets offense that’s been struggling for years to turn it around.

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And when that lineup does finally heat up, the National League better watch out.

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