There's nothing like good health:
BON SANTE, MONSIEUR, as I think they say in Paris.
Ahh, health...I shoveled snow in our snowy, snowy Long Island February, and prior to it had some aches in the shoulder, forearm and back.
Needless to say, I was achier afterwards. I was put in the IL - Idiot's List - for not paying someone else to do it for me.
But, not to worry, I was clocked throwing 96 the other day. I threw two balls at 48 MPH, and that adds up to 96, just to be clear.
Anyway...Baseball players can play injured or play healthy.
They usually do much better healthy.
Mack Mets' writer Craig Mitchell recently reminded us that Tom Seaver had sciatica in 1974 and finished an un-Seaver-like 11-11, 3.20 that season. THE STUFF OF MERE MORTALS. OUCH!
In the case of Brandon Nimmo, how has he played when healthy recently?
Well, in early 2019, he had a bulging disk in his neck, making it hard to react to pitches, and as a result missed much of the season, returning for 26 games late in the season.
In 2020, due to the shortened season, a healthy Nimmo played 55 games. Late 2019 (26 games) and 2020 (55 games) add up to 81 games, exactly the length of half a season.
How did he hit in those 81 contests?
Well, he walked 53 times and was HBP 8 others, so he got on at least 61 times without a hit, and had 12 doubles, 4 triples, and 13 HRs to boot. So far, so good.
And, for those healthy 81 games, he had a robust .412 OBP and a delightful .506 slugging %.
That is pretty darned terrific, if you ask me.
And not a fluke, since his 2018 full season, "when healthy" slash line was a mighty satisfactory .263/.404/.483.
The highly coveted King George Springer the First, in his career, has an OBP of .361 and slugging % of .491.
Hmm...Nimmo's numbers are - huh? - better...Hmm.
Let us take pause so that sinks in a bit.
Heck, the Mets' Gold Standard, Captain America, David Wright, was .376 OBP/.491 SLUG in his career. Less than Nimmo.
Am I making my point?
Now, if Nimmo truly can ratchet his CF play up to merely about average, that would make for a fine CF. His arm does not have any Andre Dawson in it, to be honest, and wow, what an arm Dawson had, with 157 career outfield assists, and only that "low" because runners knew the complete futility of testing his howitzer.
But despite Nimmo's substandard rifle, he does have slightly above average speed, so there seems to me no reason he cannot improve that defense to around league average in CF.
He of course is motivated to do so more than any of us fans, as his fielding prowess (or lack thereof) will greatly impact his future free agent (or contract extension) bucks.
I for one am truly happy with a healthy Nimmo. Even in CF.
Maybe everyone should be, if they really consider the above.
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