When longtime baseball fans discuss players who have just emerged from the minors it is commonplace to compare them to veteran players with whom we are familiar. Whether one is using Similarity Scores (you can find these at Baseball-Reference.com) or “Comparables” as they are listed in the Baseball Prospectus or even facial resemblance or other traits that they have in common we can often pin a new guy to someone we already know.
The first comparable player I can recall was when the 1962 Mets made a trade in May of that year for Marv Throneberry (with a middle name of Eugene, his initials appropriately spell MET). This was no young player as Throneberry was nearing the end of an undistinguished six year career. He was gone from the game by age 30.
As soon as Throneberry strode to the plate and dug his heels into the lefty’s batter box and took practice swings everyone noticed the resemblance to Mickey Mantle. Marvelous Marv even emulated the Mick in the way he ran.
Unfortunately the resemblance ended there. Mantle struck out a lot and hit prodigious tape measure home runs. Throneberry struck out a lot and didn’t. Mantle, despite horrible knees, was a stellar defensive performer. Throneberry was an accident waiting to happen at first base.
Skipping ahead a mere 60 plus years one can look up comparable players in the Baseball Prospectus. For Asdrubal Cabrera there is a top comp named Stephen Drew (meh). I think he’s more like Jhonny Peralta who BP has as his #3 comp. For Neil Walker there’s top comp teammate Kelly Johnson. That’s cool.
But what of the new guy in the Mets’ dugout, Brandon Nimmo? Someone at Twitter said the rookie reminded him of a cross between Jeff Francoeur and comedian Jim Breuer.
Baseball Prospectus has a top comp of Aaron Hicks but their article about him likens him in many ways to Christian Yelich and Nick Markakis, players who are big enough to hit home runs but who do not do so very frequently.
Nimmo is listed as being 6’3” tall while weighing 205 pounds. He is a solid but unexceptional outfielder who can play all three positions but is likely not true center fielder material. To me the player he reminds me of is former Philly Von Hayes. Hayes, rangier at 6’5” 185 pounds was another player who looked like a power hitter but was not. Hayes did have two seasons when he hit over 20 dingers but his typical season put him in the low teens.
Facially when I see that infectious toothy grin I am reminded of Jim Nabors as he played Gomer Pyle on TV.
I was trying to attach an image of John Elway here, which seems to be not possible. But he’s a pretty close comp if you are comparing the mouths.
As a player? It’s kind of early, isn’t it? In a comparison of hype and predictable results I have long had in mind one Dave Magadan . Not exactly the same sort of batter of course, but there are similarities.
Okay, the similarities/differences between Nimmo and Magadan: both are/were patient hitters; both faced criticism at times for being too passive. Neither of them hit lefthanders very well, and neither of them has or had much power.
As for differences based on what I’ve seen, I believe Brandon has a somewhat more powerful swing; Magadan usually dragged the bat through the zone, with the bat head failing to catch up with his hands, and I remember once, when McCarver asked Ralphie what hitter Magadan reminded him of, Kiner replied, “a lot of minor leaguers.”
On the other hand, while Magadan didn’t have much power, he was able to hit a little against the lefthanders, and I don’t know that Nimmo ever will. If his 42 Plate Appearances in the PCL against left handers really do indicate improvement, then that last bit is out.
And Dave Magadan was able to look like a .300 hitter for short spells, something we have not really seen yet from Nimmo. It’s very early innings for Nimmo, again.
I certainly can see some parallels with Magadan. My recollection of Mags was that he used his bat as a wand and contented himself with singles over shortstop or up the middle. Nimmo’s swing is a bit more forceful. One could compare him to James Loney but with more patience at the plate (and thankfully more running speed).
It would be nice if Kevin Long could help both Loney and Nimmo find more of a power stroke as he’s helped Daniel Murphy in the past.
Thanks for the comments.
Larry, interesting article
Do you think the height and weight is dated?
A few close ups suggest so.
I keep wanting him to be Shawn Green.
Darling made the Hunter Pence comparison, which I think had more to do with his overt awkward almost spastic goofiness than anything on the field.
Nick Markakis could be another.
Nimmo’s defense has looked pretty bad so far, and I really hope that’s not the case. It’s going to take some time to figure out what kind of player he’ll be, a couple of years at least.
The problem is the Mets have too many LH-hitting outfielders. It’s why, in part, De Aza has been such a disaster. There’s no role for him, he fills no need. On a team with holes, he’s just a pale duplicate. Next season you look at an outfield with Granderson in his final season, Conforto back in the fold, Cespedes (we hope!), Lagares, and Nimmo. Being a 5th outfielder as a young man is sub-optimal to say the least. If it was any other GM, I’d say that he’s going to make some moves, but Sandy is not that kind of wheeler-dealer.
Lagares seems like a guy who could be traded, but he does fill significant holes. The RH bat, the Gold Glove, the speed & athleticism. Right now I’d say that the triad of Conforto, Granderson, and Nimmo all demonstrate weaknesses against LHP; as a combination of players, it doesn’t add up for me.
Oh, the Mets are way too lefthanded, certainly.
That doesn’t affect my big dream, which is a Mets team with Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Chris Flexin all on the roster some day. Hee-haw, what a bunch of country-looking characters; I would fit right in!