.401 by Tom Brennan
OK, it's not a full season, but the surging Brandon Nimmo, in his time in the minors since June rolled around, is 85 for 212. That's .40094339622 on my desk calculator; I'll round it to .401.
Impressive, no matter how many decimal places, as he has rocketed to a league leading .355, 10 points ahead of TJ Rivera, with just a few games left. And over that 212 at bat stretch, Nimmo has 13 doubles, 4 triples, and 9 homers, also impressive. Over those 51 games, he added 23 walks, too.
I guess we'll see both gents in Flushing very soon.
The Gavin Cecchini experiment is on, with a flawless first game at 2B. He may be our opening day 2B next year - sorry, Neil.
Phil Evans went 2-5 and sits at .331 in AA, trying to get enough at bats to qualify for the batting title there.
Amed Rosario has less AA at bats than him, but quite a few now, and his 4-5 night pushed him up to .335 in AA.
Chris Flexen was pulled after 5 no hit innings for St Lucie - nice. In his prior start, he also threw 5 scoreless but allowed 3 hits in that one.
Paul Sewald recorded his 18th save for Vegas, and lowered his ERA to a terrific-for-Vegas 3.34. Hope to see him join the Mets next week - he has earned it with a great minor league relief career.
Andres Giminez's season in the DSL is over but the highly touted 17 year old struck out only 22 times in over 260 plate appearances, and went .350/.469/.523. Another SS of apparently great promise, perhaps by 2020.
Happy Labor Day weekend, folks.
Are people going to finally stop calling Nimmo a bust?
ReplyDeleteMichael S, before this year, Nimmo really looked like a bust, considering he was a first half of first round pick. I thought so, and said so - little power, mediocre average.
ReplyDeleteHe is certainly performing like a first half of first round pick in 2016, though. Vegas or not.
He has a real future. Hopefully, he can be a major league quality starting OF soon.
Agree to disagree. I never considered him a bust, but I think that had to do with my own expectations. I've looked at him as a versatile (potential starting CF) outfielder who could hit 1 or 2 in the lineup. He always displayed a strong batting eye and has had a knack for getting on base. I expected the power to develop and the hitting to come around. I didn't expect him to be a future batting champ and I still don't.
DeleteHowever, I've expected .280-.290 out of him with a high OBP and .800 OPS. I think he'll be a solid MLB player. Conforto is the one I expect to be a star and we need both.
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ReplyDeleteI want to believe in Cecchini but I'm not sure how much a .833 Vegas inflated OPS plays in MLB. I'm not sure I would pencil him in the lineup. I would rather offer Walker something for next year assuming that he can recover within 6 months before spring training. Cecchini probably needs another of seasoning. Rosario might even make it before him and you have to wonder if they will give him some reps at 2nd too before taking SS over in 2018.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts, Dallas, but Walker's price with a bad back may give the Mets the heebee geebees and cause them to take a pass. Sign Cespedes first and take it from there.
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DeleteI am absolutely against resigning Walker given the Mets history (especially recently) with back problems.
DeleteIf this year has proven one thing, it is the fatal danger in having more than 1 important player on the team with recurring problems such as the back issues Walker, Wright, and Duda are suffering from.
Yes I like Walkers performance this year, but the back issue makes it so I could not depend on him as a key part of my team moving forward.
As an additional supporting player? Yes!
But he will find a different team that will put more faith in him than I would be able to pay him
Now....with that said I would definitely offer him the one year tender. Most likely somebody else will offer more and the Mets get the draft pick.
If not, then at least it is only the 1 year commitment
Pass(!)on Cecchini. The best way to rattle a pitching staff is to put a guy with 33 errors in 113 games at 2nd base. It's not an abberation.
ReplyDeleteI can see Harvey, in particular, losing his composure. Jon Niese's head would explode, not that I'd mind much.
If Cespedes (hopefully) & Bruce (meh) are still around I would like to see a Leaguers/Nimmo CF platoon (more 50/50 than R/L). That means: get Conforto a 1B glove (spelled by Wright on occasion?). Wilmer moves around the IF as necessary if Walker is there, if not he's the default 2B.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Bob, Walker (except for the back) has been great, but he wants multiyear going forward and the back recurrent issue and now surgery is a scary proposition to do a multi year deal. I probably pass on it.
ReplyDeleteThe experts had definitely relegated Nimmo as purely a backup/bench, honestly who could blame them? He wasnt hitting with power, getting hurt all the time and not showing much. Great to see him hitting around.400 over the last 3 months, looking like he has a shot to outplay Dilson long term.
ReplyDeleteBob, you would offer Walker a Qualifying offer? Thats going to be in the 18-19 million range this year. I'm pretty sure he accepts that offer coming off surgery. It then gives him a chance to prove he is healthy the following year. I think its unlikely he takes the risk that he gets a better multi-year deal after all the teams knew he had surgery. I guess it depends on if the Mets want to risk 18 million when they could probably get him for one year for less. It would be in his best interest to take a short contract after surgery and shoot for the moon the following year.
Having Wright/Duda/Walker all with back injuries is definitely risky. They are stuck with Wright, but will have big decisions with the other 2.
Good point regarding the Qualifying Offer.
DeleteConsidering what has happened in previous years, I wouldn't be surprised if other teams would be looking at Walker.
Given the poor Free agent class I can see a team that thinks it is "close" convincing themselves to give Walker a 2 or 3 year contract. Or even a contract similar to Murphy's.
These could be tempting to Walker considering his age and his back.
I guess the deciding factor on offering the QO would need to depend on the Mets insight into Walker's prognosis after surgery, other teams thoughts on him, and what they know of him and his plans for his future.
The biggest thing is though, I could've recommend building a roster that depends on him being an important contibutor for a full season or more
Couldn't recommend
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DeleteWith the improvements made by Smith, Nimmo and Cecchini and knowing their high draft picks they should get the opportunity to play sometime next year. The question is everyone (me included) loves to decide on a player's worth long before he plays a major league game even though were talking about very young players which means until they play for the big club no one really knows. The upside here is next year by default we almost have to be healthier and we should have Duda still cheap and playing for a contract, Walker who most likely will take a 1 year deal to build his value, Harvey who's not a FA till 2019 and has to rebuild his career and Grandy, Cabrera, Bruce and Reyes for one more year. So to sign Cespedes for say 4 years at 80-90 million with an option should give us a pretty solid club next with backups for a normal year of injuries and alot of flexibility going into the trade deadline and next off season.
ReplyDeleteI would really caution against depending on Duda and his back
DeleteI find it interesting that Dee Gordon after an amazing 2015 season has reverted to his early career #'s ....but I'm sure PED's had nothing to do with it :). What's really surprising is no ones talking about it. Thomas thanks 4 your email and just let know when is a good time.
ReplyDeleteI agree on last point, Bob. Duda tried to come back after months and had to shut it down. He might not be the same next year. He may have to really go easy for a long time and lose his edge. Or have a chronically bad back now. I think Walker will get at least 2 years from someone and take it.
ReplyDeleteGary, I think Cespedes might be #1 free agent this year, so 4 years, 80-90MM won't do it. Yet he should be re-signed as their cornerstone. And hope Nimmo and Conforto blossom. Lagares will be in there, but the downside of his daredevil fielding is torn ligaments, etc. It is high risk playing,,,exciting as heck when he does not get hurt. And the last two years show that he does get hurt.
Can we finally, officially acknowledge that the whole "organizational hitting philosophy" that Alderson insists on may be good to help improve a team with poor hitting skills,
ReplyDeleteBut for professional hitters that have learned how to hit with impact throughout their lives....
It's a Bust.
Notice: the best hitters on the team this year do not subscribe to the hunt for the best pitch to hit philosophy.
Cespedes, the best example of this, was not even wanted by Alderson and by passed for 2 years when he was available, without Alderson showing any interest at all because Cespedes doesn't fit Alderson's hitting philosophy.
Heck, it took Jeff Wilpon insisting for Alderson to make the trade to acquire Cespedes.
The Mets are not a cellar dwelling team anymore and should never return to that position.
Please, please, please I beg. Do away with the Alderson hitting philosophy across the organization.
We should be trying to draft Cespedes types…not low impact guys who can't hit to boot. We drafted a lot of those this year and last. Fortunately it seems we did get a few good ones (Conforto, Lindsay, Alonso)
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