WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — After the veteran players left the Mets last season, Brandon Nimmo took inventory in the clubhouse and began formulating ideas for spring training.
Max Scherzer, the ringleader of the room the previous two springs, won’t be there.
Other veterans who could take over the role were also traded.
Nemo realized that his time had come.
The Mets needed to gel as a team off the field, and Nimmo was going to help make that adjustment.
The Mets were scheduled to delay their report time to camp on Thursday, so Nimmo and his wife Chelsea spent the night before hosting the first team bonding event of the spring, a pop-up event for Mets players, staff and their families. Sponsored a stroke golf trip.
“I feel like the baton has been passed to me to be a mentor and a leader on some things,” Nimmo said at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie before the Mets departed for an exhibition game in West Palm Beach. ” he said.
David Wright and Curtis Granderson were among the players who held such leadership positions with the Mets early in Nimmo’s career.
In years past, the Mets have used bowling nights, card games and fishing expeditions as opportunities for bonding.
Scherzer hosted a crawfish boil at his home during spring training last year, and the Mets also held a talent show around the middle of camp.
“I was able to learn from the players and pick up things that I feel have really helped them be successful in the past,” Nimmo said. “And now I’m going to use that for the second half of my career.”
Nimmo put attendance at Wednesday’s meeting at 95%, including coaches, clubhouse personnel and kitchen staff. He said if the Mets hold another event, it will be until the 26-man roster is more clear.
PopStroke is a type of miniature golf played on a challenging putting green.
“It’s a lot harder than mini golf,” Adam Ottavino said. “It’s similar to a real green…with fake bunkers.”
Ottavino, who recorded 6 seconds on two holes, said he “failed” and cited the importance of such team-bonding events in spring training.
“If nothing happens, it’s hard to be as united as we want to be,” Ottavino said. “It certainly helps to feel like colleagues, so it’s good to do things together, whether it’s dinner… at first. [event] It’s always good here because there are a lot of people who have families here and are probably cooped up all day waiting for their husbands to come home, but it’s nice to be able to get out a little bit. ”
Ottavino, who is starting his third season with the Mets, said he saw Nimmo as a team leader from the moment he took over.
And the fact that Nimmo still has seven years left on the $162 million contract he received in December 2022 contributes to his credibility within the clubhouse.
“It’s definitely going to take some time for him to become more vocal, because that’s not in his nature,” Ottavino said. “But he is a very good leader by example. There is no one more professional on this team or on any team than Nimmo.
“People look at him and follow him because he’s a player who has evolved and gotten better. That’s what they want to do…on the team they expect someone to step up. Roushi and Nemo are one of them.
