Back in late April, Brandon Nimmo was one of the coldest hitters in the Mets lineup. Back on April 27th, Nimmo hit a new low, having a slash line of .192/.239/.337 with three home runs and 10 RBIs. It seemed like Nimmo’s best days were behind him, especially after the lackluster 2024 season he had, when he slashed .224/.327/.399 with 23 home runs, 90 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 108.
However, since that date, Nimmo’s season has done a complete 180. He turned from being one of the more underwhelming hitters to arguably the hottest hitter in the Mets lineup. His current stats are much better than they were a month and a half ago, slashing .249/.312/.465 with 15 home runs, 41 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 121. But what has been the cause of this sudden turnaround?
How Brandon Nimmo turned his season around
The primary reason for this sudden turnaround has been where Nimmo has hit in the lineup. At the start of the season, Nimmo spent most of his time in the fourth and fifth spots in the order. In 46 games between those spots, he has 36 hits, six of which were home runs, 15 runs, 18 RBIs, 15 walks, and 37 strikeouts. However, in the 19 games in the two-spot, he has 25 hits, six of which were homers, 15 runs, 10 RBIs, six walks, and 14 strikeouts. His batting average is .352 in the two-hole compared to .207 when batting fourth or fifth.
Nimmo is also seeing offspeed pitches better than he did last year. According to Baseball Savant, in 2024, Nimmo had a .164 batting average and a .411 slugging percentage against offspeed pitches. However, in 2025, his stats have taken a significant improvement. His batting average is .296, and his slugging percentage is .704.
He’s also making excellent contact with the ball. He currently has a hard hit percentage of 49.8%, which ranks in the 84th percentile among MLB hitters. This has resulted in an average exit velocity of 91.9 mph, which ranks in the 86th percentile among hitters. He’s made really good contact against sinkers, changeups, and sweepers, having a hard hit percentage above 48%.
It seems that Nimmo is going back to the hitter he was in the early part of his career. Before 2023, Nimmo’s whole game centered around getting on base. It always seemed like he was drawing walks and working the count. However, in the past few years, he’s changed his approach to prioritize power and hitting the ball out of the park. Which is the main reason we’ve seen such a dip in his numbers.
If Nimmo is going to go back to the guy that gets on base, he’s the perfect two-hole hitter. He and Lindor would be the perfect table setters for Juan Soto and Pete Alonso, giving the offense the jump start it needs. Regardless of the future, it’s nice to see Nimmo being productive at the plate again.
