From the first inning, it seemed as though something was wrong with New York Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo. He looked as though he was dealing with a lot of pain, and surely enough, he volunteered to get out of the game as the neck stiffness he was dealing with proved to be far too painful. In the end, Nimmo’s absence seemed to matter in a one-run loss to the Washington Nationals, putting an end to the Mets’ modest three-game winning streak.
The neck stiffness Nimmo was experiencing surely got to a point where it was unbearable for him to refuse to power through. And certainly enough, Nimmo explained following the Mets’ defeat just how bad it got for him that he felt as though he’d be a detriment to the team had he stayed out on the field.
“Sometimes, depending on how serious it is, I can tough it out and play through it. But this one was affecting the swing and my running. I wasn’t able to do what I wanted out on defense either. I wasn’t able to look up so I was being a detriment on both ends and we decided to go ahead and get out there,” Nimmo told reporters, via SNY on X (formerly Twitter).
“Sometimes I can just fight through it in the past and wasn’t able to [tonight]. We’ll look for it to get better in the next couple of days. But the unfortunate part of it is when it pops up, it takes few days to get out.”
Brandon Nimmo says sometimes he can “tough out” playing through neck stiffness but tonight it was affecting his swing and defense
“I wasn’t able to look up, so I was being a detriment on both ends” pic.twitter.com/bOTwd2UVJW
https://twitter.com/SNYtv/status/1958342694201078228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1958342694201078228%7Ctwgr%5E4b90fa2d9bc72f868ebe1d95d78e8888d21759f3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fmlb%2Fnew-york-mets%2Fmets-news-brandon-nimmo-breaks-silence-on-why-he-took-himself-out-of-nationals-game
Mets may have to be without Brandon Nimmo for the next few games
Nimmo has remained one of the most consistent bats in the Mets lineup; following his lone plate appearance in his early exit against the Nationals, he now has a .762 OPS on the season to go with 20 home runs and 68 runs batted in.
With the Mets jockeying for playoff positioning, they can ill-afford an injury to one of their best players. But at the very least, Nimmo’s issues are very much fixable with a few days rest, as well as (perhaps) a better sleeping position.
Whatever the case may be, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is prepared for the possibility that they head into the next few games without Nimmo in the lineup.
“It got to a point where he couldn’t do it. So day-to-day,” Mendoza said.
Carlos Mendoza said Brandon Nimmo woke up with neck stiffness but took himself out of the game after the first inning
He’s considered day-to-day pic.twitter.com/UvaHZKcoUv
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 21, 2025
The Mets will be facing the Nationals tomorrow night in the rubber match of their three-game series.
