Brandon NimmoThe Mets drafted Brandon Nimmo is the 1st round (13th overall) in the 2011 draft.  Nimmo had not played a lot of baseball because he’d grown up in Wyoming, but he’d shown a ton of promise in his small showcase.  The issue?  Some scouts saw Nimmo developing into a powerful corner outfielder and others saw a future leadoff hitting centerfielder.  The verdict is not yet in, but he’s finally displaying significant promise in one of the key areas we’d been waiting for.

In 2011, 2012 and 2013 combined, Nimmo only managed 11 measly stolen bases.  His power numbers were also not off the charts, but he was hitting enough to keep us watching.

In his last 10 games alone, Nimmo has managed 5 stolen bases and walked 14 times.  He’s got a healthy OBP of .514 supported by his 24 walks and .379 batting average.  He’s off to a great start in general, but it is fantastic to see him developing a feel for stealing bases.

Not for nothing, but he’s slugging .483 and the courts are still out on how he will develop.  I think we might be seeing Nimmo’s first appearance in BA’s Top 100 in the coming year.

AAA:

Zach Lutz is the forgotten man – He’s hitting, he’s healthy and he’s got a 0% chance of playing in the majors with David Wright healthy.

Allan Dykstra still rolling – He’s hitting for power, he’s getting on base, he’s waiting for Lucas Duda or Josh Satin slip up to get his big league chance.

Andrew Brown making most of his demotion – In his first 4 AA games he has 2 doubles and 2 homers.  That’s not too shabby.

Eric Campbell looking for his shot at the bench – Campbell plays a few positions and hits like a right-handed Daniel Murphy.  He has a future in the majors, but perhaps not with the Mets.

Jacob deGrom still pitching strong – He’s still the best statistical pitcher in Las Vegas, although his numbers are getting less sparkly.

Rafael Montero and Noah Syndergaard still showing blemishes – The two top pitching prospects are still working through their kinks.  Neither has dominated in their last few starts.

Vic Black is finding his pitch – He’s got a role of a couple solid outings now and he’ll hopefully be back up in the majors soon.

AA:

Darrell Cecliani still showing flaws – He’s hitting .339 and has stolen some bases but he’s struck out 12 times in 13 games.  He cannot do that if he’s to regain his prospect value.

Travis Taijeron is getting it done – Sure, he’s only hitting .237 but he has an OPS of .830 thanks to a healthy combination of walks and power.

A+:

Steven Matz looks really good – His ERA is 1.52, he’s struck out 23 in 23.2 innings and he’s only walked four.

A:

Jeff McNeil might be something special – In only 22 games he has 9 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 7 stolen bases, 9 walks and 11 strikeouts.  That looks pretty good to me.

Akeel Morris update – 6 games played, 13.2 innings pitched… wow.  0.00 ERA, 3 hits, 8 walks and 22 strikeouts.

 

9 comments on “Mets Minors: Brandon Nimmo showing off his wheels

  • Jerry Grote

    David … I mentioned this in Joe’s thread –

    I can’t recall a time like this. Mets affiliates at each of the top four spots has at least one hitter among the top four in his league in OPS. St.Lucie has two.

    Dykstra #1 in PCL
    Clark #1 in EL
    Nimmo #3 and Rivera #4 the FSL
    McNeil’s #4 in the SAL

    • David Groveman

      Why the ellipses?

      It is pretty nice to see. Usually the story is 90% pitching.

      • Jerry Grote

        … I don’t know.

  • Metsense

    Nimmo is looking to “catch up” to his buddies Kevin Plawecki and Jayce Boyd who moved on to Binghampton via St Lucie. He seemed disturbed that he was left back but understood that his injury last year hurt his numbers. Brandon should be joining them soon. A few more weeks without any bumps should do it. A #1 pick needs to be accelerated especially when they are playing “catch up”.
    I like Dilson Herrera as a second baseman but is Jeff McNeil also a second baseman? I know Mazzilli plays second for the Gnats but Jeff is blocked at 3B by Captain America (see Zach Lutz)and may be the better prospect over Mazilli. Nice to have these problems.
    I am really looking forward to seeing Morris when he comes to town (if he is still with the Gnats in early June).
    If TC doesn’t trust Valverde to pitch in the ninth inning vs the Marlins yesterday,with a four run lead, then maybe it is time for Black to get promoted.

    • David Groveman

      Not sure if Nimmo will be accelerated. If he keeps hitting they likely will.

      Dilson Herrera is good but his past week was ho-hum.

      Not sure where they have McNeil playing but I’ll look into it and will have an answer soon.

      Black will be up soon unless he hits a speed bump.

      • Willis

        Nimmo had a huge night tonite. Four hits, including a HR.

        Aren’t you concerned that Black’s walking too many guys. It would be great for the Mets if they had a guy to bring up to replace Valverde.

        • David Groveman

          Black has walked too many but in his two most recent games he had not. That is why he needed another good week before a promotion.

  • Ike

    Does this website ever get up to date news? this fascination with nimmo is so worthless this kid was aldersons 1st pick and that is all he has going for him he gets moved up for just that reason he’s on the verge of not even being a prospect anymore because of his production and age and yet the Mets keep saying he’s on the verge of being major league ready talk about wish full thinking! if this kid makes it to the majors without putting up real numbers in the minors then its just because of his picking slot, and by the way look at the guys that were picked after him, wish we had some of them, alderson really knows talent!

    • Brian Joura

      An intelligent reader would know enough to check the date an article was published before he went off criticizing things about not being timely.

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