Mets’ Brandon Nimmo frustrated by his base-stealing struggles

ATLANTA — Brandon Nimmo started spring coaching decided to turn out to be a greater base-stealer.

Six months later, the Mets outfielder considers it a dropping battle.

As gamers throughout the game have thrived stealing bases, thanks partially to new guidelines carried out this 12 months that embrace bigger bases and limits to the variety of pickoff makes an attempt at a pitcher’s disposal throughout an at-bat, Nimmo has not loved the bounce and has largely stopped making an attempt, regardless of his well-above-average velocity.

The MLB common stealing bases coming into Wednesday was a 79.8 % success price.

Nimmo stood at 3-for-6 (50 %).

Final season Nimmo was 3 of 5 (60 %) in stolen-base makes an attempt.

“I’m simply not good at stealing bases,” Nimmo mentioned earlier than the Mets accomplished their sequence in opposition to the Braves. “It’s both instinctive or dangerous luck, I’ve no clue. However after I go, the throw is on the bottom and I’m toast more often than not.”

Nimmo’s most up-to-date foray got here Saturday when he was thrown out making an attempt to steal second base in St. Louis.

He turned solely the fourth base-stealer thrown out this season by Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner in 44 makes an attempt in opposition to him.

A confluence of circumstances have dissuaded Nimmo from making an attempt extra steals.

In spring coaching he jammed his hand sliding into a base and didn’t wish to irritate it additional.

As soon as the season started, he bruised his knee on a sliding catch throughout the staff’s West Coast journey in April and started carrying a pad.

After which there was the frustration of getting nailed attempting to steal second for the final out of the game on Could 4 in Detroit with the staff behind by two runs.

Nimmo admitted that failure led him to additional query whether or not he needs to be making an attempt to steal.

“I’m all the time prepared to vary, however when the numbers hold telling you this isn’t benefiting the staff, that’s when it’s like, ‘OK, we both have to abandon it or transfer in one other path the place, OK, you might be on first base, you might be in scoring place,’ ” Nimmo mentioned. “I’m not saying I gained’t take possibilities sooner or later, there may be extra occasions when it is smart and we go, however it’s simply that it hasn’t labored out. It’s one thing we tried working at.”

Although Nimmo’s dash velocity has dropped to twenty-eight.1 feet-per-second this season from a peak of 28.9 in 2021, in response to Statcast, the outfielder nonetheless ranks within the seventieth percentile amongst MLB gamers.

However Nimmo mentioned the difficulty with reference to stolen bases is his relative lack of quickness.

“I’m not the quickest man on the staff, however I’m one of many quickest,” Nimmo mentioned. “It’s one thing that in all probability with much more time and homework, if there was much more emphasis placed on it it’s in all probability one thing we may enhance, however how a lot share I don’t know. However any time with what we’re doing there’s solely so many hours in every day, so there are extra necessary issues.”

If fewer stolen-base makes an attempt means staying on the sphere, Nimmo deems it a worthy trade-off.

“Final 12 months I used to be obtainable every single day apart from 4 or 5,” Nimmo mentioned. “This 12 months I hope to as nicely. For me availability is the important thing.”