Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo made his highly anticipated spring debut on Sunday afternoon against the Houston Astros.
As he’s done during the past few seasons, Nimmo had a bit of a slower ramp-up during the early days of spring training in an attempt to keep him healthy heading toward the start of the regular season.
The 30-year-old took the next step in his progression on Sunday afternoon, though, as he played three innings and went hitless in two at-bats during the rain-shortened contest at Clover Park.
“It was good to get back out there,” Nimmo said. “I had a good amount of running which was good, and started accumulating some at-bats, but the biggest thing is getting the workload up and starting to get to nine innings so that we’re ready for the season and healthy.”
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has been impressed with how his star outfielder has handled himself thus far and he was excited to see him in action for the first time.
“He’s a professional with the way he goes about his business,” the skipper said. “His preparation is off the charts and he knows his body so well. Seeing him out there is important for all of us.”
After dealing with numerous injuries throughout the first six years of his big-league career, Nimmo’s been able to piece together back-to-back healthy and productive campaigns over the past two seasons.
He appeared in a career-high 152 games last season and remained a consistent on-base threat atop New York’s lineup while adding some power to his game with 30 doubles and 24 homers.
This spring will be a bit different for Nimmo as he prepares to play more left field this season with Gold Glove center fielder Harrison Bader added this offseason, but his approach will still stay the same.
“It’s just about trying to make things as consistent as possible,” he said. “You try to stay with that workload you had in centerfield and make sure that you’re working up to it, even if that means getting some work in after the game.”
Bader is expected to make his 2024 Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday afternoon against the Yankees.
