Mets' Brandon Nimmo playing through foot injury in NLCS
Brandon Nimmo of the Mets gets emotional as he takes in the moment after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the NLDS at Citi Field on Oct. 9. Credit: Jim McIsaac
LOS ANGELES — Add Brandon Nimmo to the list of the Mets’ walking wounded, or in his case the limping wounded.
Nimmo is playing through plantar fasciitis in his left foot despite a level of pain significant enough that if it weren’t the postseason, he probably would be on the injured list, manager Carlos Mendoza said Saturday.
Because this is the National League Championship Series, he is gutting through it. Nimmo was in the lineup again for Game 2 against the Dodgers, content to figure out his foot problem once the Mets are done.
Although he has dealt with the problem periodically since May, Nimmo aggravated it during the Division Series against the Phillies, Mendoza said.
“He got a lot of treatment the past few days that we were off,” Mendoza said. “But good enough to play. It hurts the most slowing down, jogging. But when he has to go full speed, he doesn’t have [pain]. Swinging-wise, he’s fine. But yeah. He’s doing OK.
“He’ll come in and get work done. He’s been doing that the whole year. But it got to a point where you see him limping when he’s taking the field and things like that. It was nothing serious until that last series, when he started feeling it really bad.”
The three days off between series were not enough for the issue to settle down. “This is something that is more an offseason-type deal,” Mendoza said.
Extra bases
Southern California resident David Wright, thoroughly enjoying the Mets’ unexpected October run, attended both NLCS games at Dodger Stadium. He said he is eyeing a trip to New York if the Mets make it to the World Series . . . Mendoza said he used Jose Butto for 1 2⁄3 innings and 43 pitches to finish Game 1 on Sunday because otherwise “you’re pitching your high-leverage guys” in a blowout. Butto has fallen down the depth chart enough that he was the one the Mets needed in that spot. “You got some guys ahead of him,” Mendoza said.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
