JUPITER, Fla. — Brandon Nimmo appears to have secured the Mets’ leadoff spot for now, but that doesn’t mean team officials aren’t at least considering the idea of moving him.
Manager Carlos Mendoza acknowledged Saturday that he had “informal” discussions with Nimmo early in camp about potentially moving the veteran outfielder down the batting order, but concluded that the team would be better served by keeping him in the position he is familiar with. stated that it had reached.
“If everyone’s healthy, Nimmo will be in the leadoff spot right now,” Mendoza said before the Mets’ 9-3 victory over the Cardinals in an exhibition game at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. I guess so,” he said.
Adding Nimmo to the lineup would allow the Mets to have better base-stealing options higher up the order, such as Francisco Lindor or Starling Marte, at the cost of potentially lower on-base percentage. Nimmo reached base at a .380 clip during his career.
“I’m playing around with different names, but it’s tough. [Nimmo] He’s a guy who gets on base, and he’s one of the best at getting on base,” Mendoza said. “I know Marte has done it before, Lindor has done it before, he goes back to the guy he wants to hit in the first few spots, but Nimmo has been doing it for a long time, he’s on the bases. It’s difficult to get through.”
Sean Reed-Foley continued his impressive spring by pitching flawlessly through five innings with one strikeout.
The right-hander, who is competing for a spot in the bullpen, pitched four scoreless innings in the Grapefruit League with seven strikeouts.
Coach Mendoza expects Reed-Foley to pitch more than an inning at some point.
Mark Vientos went 2-for-4 with a double and hit ball speeds of 164 mph and 99 mph.
“He’s put in a lot of effort behind the scenes,” Mendoza said. “The fact that he’s been doing well lately, hitting the ball well, swinging well, making hard contact, that’s good to give him a little bit of confidence.”
