More Trouble For Under performing Mets As Brandon Nimmo Is To Be Sidelined Over…
Brandon Nimmo did not have time to react or comprehend what had just occurred.
In the bottom of the third inning on Friday night, a 91-mph first-pitch fastball from the Giants’ Kyle Harrison sailed up and in on the Mets outfielder. Nimmo could not avoid the wayward pitch, which connected with the C-Flap on his helmet.
The additional protection in front of the jaw on the helmet, which Nimmo said he added last season, saved Nimmo a potential injury.
“They’re throwing so hard now, and there’s so much movement, they’re bound to lose on every now and again,” Nimmo said.
“With you having to stick in there on sliders that start on you left on left and everything, I was like, ‘Yeah, I need to just go ahead and make the switch. I’m glad I did that because it saved me today.”
It was a scary moment as Nimmo shook his head several times in foul territory under the watchful eye of the Mets’ training staff, but he stayed in the game.
“I can’t really speak for right after, it’s kind of like, you never know what you’re going to do until you get hit in the face,” Nimmo said. “That was Mike Tyson’s thing, right? Everybody has a plan until you get hit in the face, but I think I regained it after a few second. Just like, ‘OK, let’s go. Let’s play.”
Nimmo went through two series of concussion protocol, once in the dugout and one following the game, and said “everything checked out.
He proved he was OK during the next at-bat when he swiped second base. It was Nimmo’s third stolen base of the season. He remained in the game in left field.
“I had a little extra energy, a little more adrenaline going and was able to steal the bag,” Nimmo joked. “I’ll definitely take it.”
Nimmo admitted that there is some courage involved stepping back into the batter’s box after an incident like that one, but tried to take a normal approach for the rest of the game. He finished 0-for-3 with an intentional walk in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The play was reminiscent of a pitch back in the opening series of the 2022 season when the C-flap on Francisco Lindor’s helmet saved the Mets shortstop when he was hit by a pitch by then-Nationals reliever Steve Cishek. The benches cleared during that incident, while Lindor suffered a cracked molar and was in the lineup the next day.