Brandon Nimmo is playing with a plantar fasciitis injury

Brandon Nimmo is 0 for 12 with four walks in his last 16 plate appearances and was removed from both Game 1 (for a pinch-hitter) and Game 2 (for a defensive sub in left field) of the season Mets“ NLCS faces the Dodgers. It appears the issue is health-related, as Nimmo told Tim Britton of The Athletic that he believes he re-aggravated plantar fasciitis in his left foot in the sixth inning of Game 3 of the NLDS against the Phillies. The fact that Nimmo has been dealing with plantar fasciitis is news in itself, as Nimmo said he has been over the injury since May.

The discomfort is only a problem when running, Nimmo said, and “I think when I really need it, I’m probably not at 100 percent, but I’m making pretty good progress.” He was able to hit and throw without much trouble. Although it is clear that Nimmo is not quite himself, he is determined to remain in the lineup and wait until the end of the season to pursue longer-term treatment.

Nimmo hit .224/.327/.399 with 23 home runs over 663 plate appearances in the regular season, for a WRC+ of 109. This was a step down from the 134 wRC+ that Nimmo 1966 PA produced in the 2020-23 seasons, although the decline is understandable considering Nimmo struggled with plantar fasciitis for most of the year. Interestingly, Nimmo stole a career-high 15 bases and went a perfect 15-for-15 on the basepaths despite playing with foot pain.

If the ailments ever became so severe that Nimmo couldn’t start in left field, the Mets could install Jeff McNeil (he himself has just returned from a broken wrist) to the left or move Tyrone Taylor into left field during Harrison Bader plays in midfield. However, the plan seems to be to simply keep Nimmo in the starting lineup and then manage his time with tactical substitutions, like in the first two games against Los Angeles.

It’s obviously not good for the Mets that one of their key players was hampered at such a crucial time in October, or that the three days off between the NLDS and NLCS provided little relief. (“It wasn’t as good as I had hoped when I got there” Nimmo said about how his foot responded to the three-day break.) While some injury cases like Freddie FreemanWhile Nimmo’s bad ankles are obvious, Nimmo’s situation is an example of several players likely trying to recover from undisclosed injuries in these important postseason games.