Brandon Nimmo

Early life and education

Brandon Nimmo is of Scottish ancestry on his father's side.

Nimmo was born to Ron, an accountant from La Junta, Colorado, and Patti Nimmo in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He wanted to be a bull rider as a child.

Nimmo attended Cheyenne East High School in Cheyenne. As Wyoming is one of only three states that do not offer high school baseball, Nimmo played American Legion Baseball. In 2010, he batted .448 with fifteen home runs and 34 stolen bases in 70 games for his club, Post 6.

The Mets scouted Nimmo's Legion games and other events. One such event was the 2010 Under Armour All-America Game at Wrigley Field, where Nimmo went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and two runs batted in to earn co-MVP honors with pitcher Nick Burdi (who is currently in the Minnesota Twins organization).

Baseball America ranked Nimmo among the top fifty prospects for the 2011 draft at number 35. When the Mets selected Nimmo with the thirteenth overall pick in 2011, he became the highest-drafted Wyomingite in the history of the Major League Baseball Draft. Of the twelve players selected from Wyoming, the previous highest pick was pitcher Michael Beaver, selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the sixth round (109th overall) of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft. Nimmo signed for $2.1 million at the age of 18. If left unsigned, he had a verbal commitment to attend the University of Arkansas.

Minor league career

Nimmo played ten games with the Gulf Coast Mets and the Kingsport Mets towards the end of the 2011 season. He combined to hit .211 with four runs batted in. He spent the following season with the Class A-Short Season Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York–Penn League. On July 30, Nimmo posted the first four-hit game of his career, falling just a triple short of the cycle, with three runs scored and two RBIs to lead the Cyclones in a 10–5 win over the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. On August 18, Nimmo capped a career-high six-RBI night with his second grand slam of the season. Nimmo is the only player in the New York–Penn League with two grand slams in 2012, his first coming on June 30. For the season, Nimmo batted .248 with six home runs and forty RBIs in 266 at bats. Nimmo placed fourth in doubles and fifth in RBIs for the New York–Penn League.

Nimmo began the 2013 season with the Class-A Savannah Sand Gnats and was ranked fourth among Mets prospects. By April 17, Nimmo was the leading hitter in the South Atlantic League with a .447 batting average, earning him a SAL mid-season All-Star nod. He was also voted into the 2013 All-Star Futures Game held at the Mets' Citi Field.

By season's end, his batting average fell to .273 with two home runs and forty RBIs. His performance at the plate was considered underwhelming as he averaged more than a strikeout per game. His numbers may have been hampered by a spacious home ballpark in Savannah that's tough on lefty power hitters, as well as a wrist injury that caused him to miss some games.

Nimmo started the 2014 season with Class-A Advanced St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League. After batting .322 with four home runs, 25 RBIs, a .448 on-base percentage and .458 slugging percentage to earn FSL All-Star honors, he received a mid-season promotion to Double-A Binghamton Mets on June 19. Between his two clubs, Nimmo posted a .278 Avg, 10 HR and 51 RBI.

After a brief four game stint with St. Lucie at the start of the 2015 season, Nimmo was promoted to the Binghamton Mets. He suffered a knee injury on April 29 that caused him to miss some playing time. Prior to the knee injury, Nimmo was batting .297 with a .368 on-base percentage and a .420 slugging percentage in 34 games. On July 28, it was announced that Nimmo was promoted to the Mets Triple-A affiliate, Las Vegas 51s as the starting center fielder. Once again, his season was interrupted by injury when he fouled a baseball off his nose in a batting cage. The Mets added him to their 40-man roster after the season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Major league career

Nimmo began the 2016 season with the Las Vegas 51s; through 250 at bats he was hitting .328 with five home runs and 37 RBIs. Nimmo was promoted to the Major Leagues on June 25 to replace the slumping Michael Conforto whose batting average had fallen to .130 since May 1. He made his major league debut the next day against the Atlanta Braves and went 0-for-4. On June 27, his second game, Nimmo recorded his first hit and his first run against Washington Nationals pitcher Joe Ross and went 2-4 overall. On July 1, he hit his first home run, a three-run homer against Jason Hammel of the Chicago Cubs, making the game 7–1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. On July 17, Nimmo was sent down to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s after batting .235 with one home run and four RBIs in 51 at-bats. On July 29, Nimmo was once again promoted after Juan Lagares suffered a torn thumb ligament and undertook surgery to repair the injury. In 2017, Brandon Nimmo was chosen to be part of Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic.