Taking Center Stage

By: Mark Halpern

Steve Cohen has done more in his first two years as the New York Mets owner than the Wilpons ever did. He has said, “He won’t back down from spending money if it brings Championships to this club.” what is that, you may ask? Well, bringing talent to this team and recognizing what the needs and wants are is part of his bankroll helps; however, it’s his passion for the sport and his love of the Mets and its fan base. Free Agency is not something many teams look forward to

because they realize that other teams will steal their talent by way of the all-mighty dollar. Over the last two years, Steve Cohen brought in talent like Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Edwin Diaz (Resigned), Mark “Can Do” Canha, and many more to make this team great. However, there is one name that fans know drives this team’s personality and energy: Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo was drafted 13th overall in the 2011 draft. He progressed through the team’s farm system very quickly to AAA. In 2016 Nimmo got his first taste of action as he was called up to play 32 games in his first year, getting a taste of the MLB. In 2017 he started in AAA and was called up again during the dog days of summer to play 67 games in CF and was impressive on all fronts. In 2018 he was named the Mets starting Center Fielder and had an excellent offensive year batting .263 with 17 home runs and 47 RBI’s but his most impressive number was his OBP (On Base Percentage) of .407 and as a leadoff hitter. OBP is an important stat. He has a fantastic amount of patience at the plate and is in complete control. The reason Nimmo’s OBP was so high because he generates walks and gets on base. He sets the tone for the lineup, which is how you score runs, and in his first year, he scored 77 runs. He had an injury year in 2019, then the 2020 covid year, and a late start to 2021; we didn’t get a good sample size, but it wasn’t just his offense that was getting better. He was getting better defensively. In 2022 when things got back to normal somewhat, so did Nimmo by having a monster year, Batting .274, with 16 home runs, generating 64 rbi’s, scoring 107 runs, and recorded 7 (which he led the majors in) triples as the leadoff hitter for the Mets. Nimmo also had eight triples in 2018. The Mets club record for a season is 21, set by Lance Johnson, who had 21 in 1996. Nimmo had an OBP of .367 and 71 walks. Yes, he also struck out 116 times, but that can show he is trying to be more aggressive at the plate but still has excellent patience and helps generate runs. The Mets had a lot of holes to fill on this squad after the 2022 season, and one of their top priorities was Nimmo. There were rumors of other teams showing interest, but Cohen ended all of the worries when the Mets announced they had signed Nimmo to an 8-year deal worth $162 million. Nimmo is the most energetic and passionate player on this team. Nimmo is off to a hot start to the 2023 season by batting .349 with a .481 OBP and 10 Rbi, and 15 walks in just the first 19 games. I don’t doubt that Nimmo will only get better at every facet of the game. No matter what is happening, Nimmo is always smiling, and his offense and defense are getting better as he has become a featured player on a team with enormous talent. Nimmo keeps on impressing not only the fans but other top players as well, and I won’t be surprised if he is the starting Center Fielder for the 2023 NL All-Stars at the All-Star game this summer, and that is how the old man sees it.