Brandon

Nimmo

There’s nothing wrong physically with the 32-year-old outfielder, he just prefers to ramp up slowly and the Rangers have been accommodating to his usual routine. He has plenty of time to get himself ready for the start of the regular season even if he misses the first couple of Cactus League affairs.

That was always the expectation, but it’s nice to hear the skipper confirm it. Schumaker also noted that Nimmo will play right field. Nimmo had a terrific season for the Mets in 2025, slashing .262/.324/.436 with 25 long balls, 92 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 652 plate appearances.

The Rangers clearly wanted to move on from the 35-year-old Semien after his offensive production dipped over the last two seasons. Nimmo was the far better hitter last season, slashing .262/.324/.436 with 25 home runs and 13 steals for the Mets. He did play some center field, but he’s been a league-average corner outfielder for most of his career and should get a chance to replace Adolis García for the Rangers. While he doesn’t have the ceiling that García does, García has also failed to reach that season over the past couple of seasons, and Nimmo has been a fairly consistent player. It’s a bit of a lateral move for the 32-year-old from a fantasy perspective heading into 2026.

It appears that just the two veterans are involved. Nimmo has full no-trade protection, but sources told The Athletic that he has agreed to waive it. Semien, 35, has three years and $72 million left on his contract, whereas the 32-year-old Nimmo is due $101.25 million over the next five years. Jon Heyman is reporting that the Mets are sending the Rangers $5 million to even up the salaries a bit. It seems like an odd deal for a Mets team with Jeff McNeil at second base and young infield talent ready to challenge him, but Semien remains a solid player and the Mets might be worried about Nimmo’s declining athleticism in left and on-base percentage.

If there’s a time to do it, it’s probably with David Peterson, he of the 55% groundball rate, on the mound. Still, weakening the defense to play Starling Marte, rather than Cedric Mullins, against a right-hander doesn’t really seem like an upgrade. Nimmo, the Mets’ primary center fielder from 2020-23, has played eight innings in center over the course of four games this year. He started 22 games in center and 120 in left last year.

The Padres brought in Wandy Peralta to face Nimmo with two on in the third, and Nimmo responded with his seventh homer off a lefty this year. He’s hit 24 homers total this season, matching his career high from two years ago. Nimmo has been slumping somewhat of late, in part because he’s striking out so much; today’s game was the fifth in a row in which he fanned twice. He still has a fine .261/.326/.442 line for the season.

The Mets put up 19 runs – a franchise record for home games – and Nimmo was at the center of many of them. It’s also comforting to know that both of his home runs came before this game got out of hand late as position players wound up pitching for each side. Still, he had three balls in play hit at least 103 mph and has been red-hot of late with 14 RBI and a 1.004 OPS over his last 15 games. It’s been a very up and down season for Nimmo, but right now he’s certainly up.

Nimmo is batting sixth tonight against a tough lefty in Christopher Sánchez. He’s typically hit third against right-handers lately, but DH Starling Marte is there tonight.

Nimmo missed a fourth straight start with a sore neck, but the fact that he pinch-hit seems like a good sign for his availability going forward. It should be safe to keep him active in fantasy leagues this week.

There’s been no indication that Nimmo is in danger of landing on the injured list, but he’s going to sit out his fourth consecutive game on Sunday afternoon. It’ll be Jeff McNeil heading out to left field on the heels of Saturday’s two-homer effort with Brett Baty covering second base and Ronny Mauricio getting into the lineup at the hot corner.