Finding Nimmo: Why Brandon Nimmo is One of MLB's Most Underrated Players: Adam's Baseball Breakdowns

Introduction: Welcome back, as I hope you all are doing well! My next post is one that I am really excited to write about, because if I were to assume, not a lot of people in the baseball community do not pay much attention to the New York Mets left-handed leadoff hitter, Brandon Nimmo. The majority of people who take time out of their day to read this article probably have not even heard of Brandon Nimmo to begin with, which I do not blame you one bit, as he is an unfamiliar name to most.

The primary goal of this article is to inform people about one of this year's underrated players and "uncover" some of his numbers which is leading to his success so far. With that being said, let's roll!

Brandon Nimmo is the type of player who hustles on every play (even when he gets walked), hits for contact with a bit of pop in his bat, points to the sky after getting on base each time, and just seems to loves the game as a whole.

Before I go on any further I feel it is appropriate to point out that this article is not about a clownfish named Nemo, as I thought the title would be somewhat catchy relating to the 2003 movie, Finding Nemo, as I have included a photo of the movie below:

Getting back to Nimmo, titling the article in all seriousness was somewhat tough because after looking at his stat lines from previous seasons, I would not necessarily call this season a "breakout" type of year for Brandon. Instead, I would say that this type of season was coming for him as long as he can stay healthy. So far, everything has come to fruition through about a quarter of the season, as the Cheyanne, Wyoming product is proving to be one of the best leadoff hitters in the game.

Prior to this year, the most games Nimmo had played in a season was 140 back in 2018. Since then, a flurry of injuries has kept him out of action for the majority of games for the past three years, but this season will hopefully end up being a different story. So in a nutshell, I guess you could say that Brandon is "finding" himself at the plate and maximizing his full potential as long as he can stay on the field.

Looking at Nimmo's Baseball Savant page, everything is mostly in red, which is a great sign, meaning that the majority of every sabermetric is either "above average" or is in the "great" tier. One of the stats that stood out to me the most while glancing at his page was that his "chase rate" is currently in the 93rd percentile. In simpler terms this means that he does not swing at "bad" pitches or pitches out of the strike zone very often. Obviously for a leadoff hitter, this is great because he is making the pitcher throw more pitches and work harder which can lead to mistakes, resulting in base hits, walks, etc.

Nimmo's On-Base-Percentage (OBP) is at a very solid .391 clip through May 24th regular season games which solidifies that he can get on base at a consistent rate. Currently among leadoff hitters, Nimmo's OBP is higher than the likes of George Springer, Tommy Edman, Jake Cronenworth, etc. Although only a month and a half or so into the year, Nimmo's strikeout rate stood out to me as well, as it currently sits at 15.2%, five percent lower than it was a season ago. His batting average splits are not too far off, as he is hitting .326 against lefties, while hitting .283 against righties, equaling out to an average just below .300.

Statistics aside, hitting at the top of the Mets lineup has it's perks, as New York has turned into a solid offensive team. With Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer sidelined with injuries until around the All-Star Break in July, the offense will have to step up for Buck Showalter's club.

From an overall team perspective, the Mets are currently third in runs scored this year, averaging 4.87 runs per game. As a result, Nimmo is setting the table for guys like Starling Marte, Francisco Lindor, and the "Polar Bear" Pete Alonso to bring in runs, giving them a better chance to win the game. Although somewhat obvious, I feel like if they continue to score runs in bunches, this will take some of the pressure off of their current staff until their veteran aces return.

Whether it be hitting to the opposite field or pulling a ball down the right field line, Nimmo has great speed to leg out a triple every once and a while, as his sprint speed ranks in the 90th percentile. Predicting that his slugging percentage goes up a bit this year would be a good bet, as he has already hit three home runs this year, compared to the eight that he hit in all of 2021 over 92 games. As a result, Nimmo is barreling the ball a bit more than in previous years, leading to his exit velocity being in the 76th percentile. He also ranks just outside the top 10 in the league in runs scored with 27.

In closing, I feel like Brandon is a great "in real life" player, as he seems to do all the little things right on the field, as his effort seems to never stop. Although not flashy, he is what a typical player should look like in the league, as it seems the majority of players like this get overlooked.

One comparison that comes to mind would be Tommy Edman of the Cardinals. Everyone seems to look at Goldschmidt and Arenado as the "stars" of the team, but quietly, Edman is having himself a solid year himself. Even though the attention is not on Nimmo in Flushing, New York, he is having a great year, even though everyone looks at Pete Alonso, Starling Marte, Jeff McNeil, etc. in the Mets lineup.

Final Thoughts: I hope you all have enjoyed reading about one of the most overlooked and underrated players in the league, as I really enjoyed researching Nimmo and diving more into his numbers. Hopefully I have achieved the main goal of this article in describing how Nimmo has found success this year. As a result, I hope Brandon continues to have a solid year, as he has all the the tools to be successful.

See you at the Ballpark!!!

Adam