While Francisco Lindor may have had four RBI’s in the Mets’ 5-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night on the road, the star shortstop wouldn’t have been able to drive in those runs if his teammates didn’t find ways to get on base .
Of course it was Brandon Nimmo who stepped up and reached base on all five plate appearances, thanks to two triples and three walks. After the win, Lindor spoke highly of Nimmo’s performance and said that “he’s a big part of why we’re winning some games.”
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Lindor said. “He still has better years to come. What we’re seeing is a byproduct of him putting quality swings on the baseball. He’s too good of a hitter to not hit .300. He’s going to hit .320, .330 one year, I truly believe that. He’s really good at the plate, he’s very consistent in his approach and he’s playing amazing. He’s running the bases great, playing outstanding defense, he’s a big part of why we’re winning some games.”
Manager Buck Showalter agreed with Lindor that Nimmo has been “very consistent,” calling him “a constant for us,” and added that the CF’s defense also played a big role in the team’s win at the hitter-friendly Coors Field.
“Through thick and thin he’s been a constant for us,” Showalter said. “He made some plays in center field. There’s a lot of ground out there and you can’t come into this stadium without some good outfielders.”
Nimmo led off the game with a walk and scored right away on Lindor’s two-run blast. After another walk in the top of the third, Nimmo roped a triple to the gap in the fifth and then scored on Lindor’s RBI single. Nimmo tripled again in the top of the ninth, as Lindor drove him in on a sacrifice fly for an insurance run. After the game, Nimmo acknowledged how important getting on base for Lindor is for the team’s success, saying “that’s how this lineup was designed.”
“It’s amazing,” Nimmo said. “That’s how this lineup was designed, and that’s it at its best is me getting on in front of those guys and them driving me in. Really happy that we were able to grind tonight and put together the runs to support Max [Scherzer]. Max did an amazing job and really allowed us to keep pushing on the offensive end.”
Lindor pointed out that hitting behind Nimmo creates a major threat for opponents, and added that he looks forward to continuing that strategy for years to come.
“It’s definitely a threat,” Lindor said. “Nimmo gets eight pitches in the first at-bat and ends up walking. A pitcher is like, ‘Oh my God, I’m already eight pitches down.’ It’s fun to have him leading off and I can’t wait… Eight more years we have together, I can’t wait.”
Nimmo went on to explain what he saw on the triples, noting the big gaps in the outfield and how the defense is positioned as factors for reaching third with ease.
“I’m just watching and seeing how the outfielders are attacking it and if I see his numbers then three is in my mind. These gaps are huge and me playing centerfield I know how difficult it is to corral the balls in the gap and get it in with a strong throw. Even if you get it on the warning track you’re still a long ways away from the infield. I’m just trying to gauge it out of the box and I felt like on both of those I could take the chance.”
The center fielder now has four triples on the season, three shy of his seven in 2022 and well on pace to break his career-high of eight back in 2018. Nimmo noted how tripling creates “a lot of pressure” on the opponent while also making it a bit easier for the Mets’ offense to score runs.
“It’s pretty rare,” Nimmo said of his two triples. “Just a really cool moment, I think they told me the 24th Met or something like that. That’s a cool list to be on. It’s pretty special. In those situations it was really big because it got me in sacrifice fly situations for us with one out, that’s huge. Puts a lot of pressure on their defense and takes the pressure off our offense.”