Brandon Nimmo prioritizes smart decisions over high risk, but from his perspective, there wasn’t a choice for him in Sunday’s seventh inning.
He had to catch the ball.
Nimmo’s diving grab in left field on Nick Fortes’ bloop kept the go-ahead run from scoring, but the bill arrived in the bottom of the inning, when Nimmo’s right shoulder ached as he swung the bat.
Nimmo managed to finish the at-bat, but was removed for the start of the eighth.
On Monday, he will receive an MRI exam on the shoulder that will likely give the Mets an idea how long Nimmo will be sidelined.
“I didn’t feel it right away [on the catch],” Nimmo said after the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Marlins at Citi Field. “But then we went in and did the seventh inning stretch … I kind of felt this general achiness in my shoulder and said, ‘OK, I will save what swings I have left for the game.’ I took that first swing and felt a little something in my backswing.”
Nimmo received a visit from the trainer and manager Carlos Mendoza and won his appeal to finish his at-bat.
Nimmo, who struck out swinging, finished his swing with both hands on the bat in an attempt to minimize the discomfort and said he succeeded.
“But then because it’s my throwing shoulder and I was going to need to get my arm up above my shoulder and make throws we were trying to be cautious about not doing more damage,” Nimmo said.
Nimmo smashed a sixth-inning homer that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. It was the second homer in three games for the previously slumping outfielder.
After the Marlins tied the game in the seventh on Huascar Brazoban’s wild pitch, Nimmo wasn’t about to allow Fortes’ bloop — with runners on the corners and two outs — to put the Mets in the hole.
“That was really important, that catch,” Nimmo said. “There’s a point in the game where if that ball falls they take the lead and we’re late in the game and obviously every game matters to us right now. It’s one that I have got to go for and got to make the play.
“I would do it over again … I have always talked about the last three years playing smart, not hard all the time, and that was one of those plays that needs to be made.”
