Brandon Tate Nimmo (born March 27, 1993) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He was drafted by the Mets in the first round of the 2011 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut with them in 2016.

Early life and education

Nimmo was born to Ron, a certified public accountant from

La Junta, Colorado La Junta is a home rule municipality in, the county seat of, and the most populous municipality of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,322 at the 2020 United States census. La Junta is located on the Arkansa ...

, and Patti Nimmo in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

. He has a brother, Bryce (who had a successful college baseball career for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

), and a sister, Kristen. He wanted to be a bull rider as a child. Nimmo grew up a

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

fan. Nimmo attended Cheyenne East High School in Cheyenne. As

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

is one of only three states that do not offer high school baseball, Nimmo played

American Legion Baseball American Legion Baseball is a variety of amateur baseball played by 13-to-19-year-olds in fifty states in the U.S. and Canada. More than 3,500 teams participate each year. The American Legion Department of South Dakota established the program in 1 ...

. In 2010, he batted .448 with 15

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 34

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s in 70 games for his club, Post 6. The Mets scouted Nimmo's Legion games and other events. One such event was the 2010 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

, where Nimmo went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and two

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

to earn co-MVP honors with pitcher Nick Burdi. ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' ranked Nimmo among the Top 50 prospects for the 2011 draft at number 35. When the Mets selected Nimmo with the 13th overall pick in 2011, he became the highest-drafted Wyomingite in the history of the

Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...

. Of the 13 players selected from Wyoming high schools, the previous highest pick was pitcher Michael Beaver, selected by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in the sixth round (109th overall) of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft. Nimmo signed for $2.1 million at the age of 18. If left unsigned, he had a verbal commitment to attend the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

Professional career

Minor league career

Nimmo played 10 games with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Mets and the Kingsport Mets towards the end of the 2011 season. He combined to hit .211 with four

. He spent the following season with the

Low-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for ...

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island ...

of the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. On July 30, 2012, Nimmo posted the first four-hit game of his career, falling just a triple short of the cycle, with three runs scored and two RBI to lead the Cyclones in a 10–5 win over the

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...

. On August 18, Nimmo capped a career-high six-RBI night with his second grand slam of the season. Nimmo was the only player in the New York–Penn League with two grand slams in 2012, his first coming on June 30. For the season, Nimmo batted .248 with six home runs and 40 RBIs in 266 at bats. Nimmo placed fourth in doubles and fifth in RBIs for the New York–Penn League. Nimmo began the 2013 season with the

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

Savannah Sand Gnats and was ranked fourth among Mets prospects. By April 17, Nimmo was the leading hitter in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

with a .447

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, earning him a SAL mid-season All-Star nod. He was also voted into the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

held at the Mets'

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball park, baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Boroughs of New York, borough of Queens, New York City, United States. Opened in 2009, Citi Field is the home of Major League Baseball's New York M ...

. By season's end, his batting average fell to .273 with two home runs and 40 RBIs. His performance at the plate was considered underwhelming as he averaged more than a

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

per game. His numbers may have been hampered by a spacious home ballpark in Savannah that's tough on lefty power hitters, as well as a wrist injury that caused him to miss some games. Nimmo started the 2014 season with

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

St. Lucie Mets of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. After batting .322 with four home runs, 25 RBIs, a .448

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

and .458

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

to earn FSL All-Star honors, he received a mid-season promotion to Double-A

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mi ...

on June 19. Between his two clubs, Nimmo posted a .278 average, 10 home runs and 51 RBI. After a brief four game stint with St. Lucie at the start of the 2015 season, Nimmo was promoted to the

. He suffered a knee injury on April 29 that caused him to miss some playing time. Prior to the knee injury, Nimmo was batting .297 with a .368 on-base percentage and a .420 slugging percentage in 34 games. On July 28, it was announced that Nimmo was promoted to the Mets Triple-A affiliate, Las Vegas 51s as the starting

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

. Once again, his season was interrupted by injury when he fouled a baseball off his nose in a batting cage. The Mets added him to their 40-man roster after the season to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

Major league career

2016

Nimmo began the 2016 season with the Las Vegas 51s; through 250 at bats he was hitting .328 with five home runs and 37 RBIs. Nimmo was promoted to the Major Leagues on June 25 to replace the slumping

Michael Conforto Michael Thomas Conforto (born March 1, 1993), nicknamed "Scooter", is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets and San Francisco ...

whose batting average had fallen to .130 since May 1. He made his major league debut the next day against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

and went 0-for-4. On June 27, his second game, Nimmo recorded his first hit and his first run against

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

pitcher Joe Ross and went 2-4 overall. On July 1, he hit his first major league home run, a three-run homer against Jason Hammel of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, making the game 7–1 in the bottom of the 4th inning. On July 17, Nimmo was sent down to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s after batting .235 with one home run and 4 RBIs in 51

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

. On July 29, Nimmo was once again promoted after Juan Lagares suffered a torn thumb ligament and undertook surgery to repair the injury.

2017–18

In 2017, Brandon Nimmo was chosen to be part of Team Italy in the

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...

. While playing in the World Baseball Classic, Nimmo strained his right

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

. The injury left him unable to join the Mets

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster, and when he recovered in late April, he began his season in the minor leagues. He remained with Las Vegas until June 16, when injuries to Juan Lagares and Matt Harvey led to Nimmo and Matt Reynolds returning to the Major Leagues. Nimmo started strong, hitting .350/.458/.400 over 24 plate appearances. However, he was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

with a partially collapsed lung on July 8 and would not return until July 28. Nimmo would finish the 2017 season appearing in 69 games for the Mets, batting .260/.379/.418 with 5 home runs. Late in the year, hitting coaches Kevin Long and Pat Roessler suggested that Nimmo try hitting without his front foot striding forward. He took the suggestion, which allowed his front foot to turn open and generate better hip rotation. Up until that August, Nimmo had slugged .346 in his career. He slugged .479 in September and continued to show increased power in 2018, slugging over .500 through the season's first two months. In 2018, Nimmo batted .263/.404/.483, with 17 home runs and 47 RBI. He led the majors in hit by pitches, with 20.

2019

On April 17, 2019, Nimmo was taken out of the first inning of a game due to a stiff neck, and missed two games. On May 21, he once again experienced neck stiffness and went on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. He was later found to have a bulging disk in his neck and went through a rough rehabilitation assignment, not appearing in the Mets' lineup again until September 1. In 2019, Nimmo batted .221/.375/.407 with 8 home runs and 29 RBIs in 69 games. He had the fastest home run trot of all major league players, at 17.7 seconds.

2020

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Nimmo hit .280/.404/.484 with 8 home runs and 18 RBIs in 55 games.

2021

In 2021, Nimmo missed most of May and all of June due to a bruised hand. He returned to the active roster in July, but suffered a hamstring strain on September 4 and missed two weeks. He finished the 2021 season batting .292/.401/.437 with 8 home runs and 28 RBIs in 92 games.

2022

Nimmo finished the 2022 season batting .274/.367/.433 with 16 home runs and 64 RBIs in 151 games in center field. He also had the fourth most runs scored (102), fifth best

(.367), and led with the most

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

(7) in the National League. After the season, Nimmo became a free agent. On December 10, 2022, he signed an 8-year, $162 million contract to remain with the Mets.

2023

In 2023, Nimmo batted .274/.363/.466 with 24 home runs and 68 RBI, playing 136 games in center field and 10 games in left field.

2024

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that Nimmo would play left field for the Mets in 2024 and new acquisition Harrison Bader would play center field. On June 30, 2024, during a game against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

, Nimmo hit his 100th career home run, off of pitcher Bryan Abreu. He became the 16th player to hit at least 100 home runs in a Mets uniform. Nimmo played in 151 games for the Mets in 2024, batting .224/.327/.399 with 23 home runs and a career-high 90 RBI. Despite suffering from

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue that supports the Arches of the foot, arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and Sole (foot), bottom of the foot that is usuall ...

during the 2024 MLB postseason, Nimmo hit the first postseason home run of his career off of

pitcher

Orion Kerkering Richard Orion Kerkering ( ; born April 4, 2001) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Phillies selected Kerkering in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB draft. He made his MLB d ...

in Game 2 of the

National League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

2025

On April 28, 2025, during a game against the

, Nimmo hit two home runs (including a grand slam) and a two-run RBI double for a grand total of 9 RBI on the day, tying the Mets single-game franchise record set by Carlos Delgado in 2008.

Personal life

Nimmo married Chelsea Bradley in November 2017 in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

. Their first child, a daughter, was born in November 2024. Nimmo is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nimmo, Brandon 1993 births Living people American people of Scottish descent Baseball players from Cheyenne, Wyoming Binghamton Mets players Brooklyn Cyclones players 21st-century American sportsmen Gulf Coast Mets players Kingsport Mets players Las Vegas 51s players Major League Baseball outfielders New York Mets players Savannah Sand Gnats players Scottsdale Scorpions players St. Lucie Mets players 2017 World Baseball Classic players Syracuse Mets players American Christians Cheyenne East High School alumni