The Mets’ 10-game West Coast road trip didn’t necessarily end great. They finished with two straight losses to the San Francisco Giants. But everything before that was pretty great. Overall, New York went 7-3 in California before getting a breather on Monday. One dude who was constantly in the middle of the action was outfielder Brandon Nimmo. And in more ways than one.
Nimmo had a terrific road trip. Across 49 plate appearances, he hit .449/.479/.674 with six extra-base hits (four doubles, two home runs), eight RBI, and eight runs scored. He failed to get a hit in just two games while also collecting six multi-hit efforts. One of those was Nimmo’s second career five-hit day, which took place in the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Mets and Giants were on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball this weekend. Usually, the booth gets to chat with a player during the game. Nimmo was the participant this week, and it didn’t disappoint.
They talked about a range of things over the span of a few minutes, and there are video highlights. One was how a steer stepped on his ankle as a kid:
"We chose baseball, and I guess it worked out."
Brandon Nimmo tells a hilarious story about how a steer stepped on his ankle when he was a kid ?
(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/8Ryg5USZYA
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 24, 2023
Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis both stepped into the box for San Francisco while Nimmo was mic’d up. So, he talked about his relationship with those two:
Brandon Nimmo talks about his relationships with former Mets J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto:
(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/ZM6GN8SZPT
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 24, 2023
He was also asked if he watches “Yellowstone”, and the center fielder shared a gripe he has about the TV show:
Brandon Nimmo is a fan of Yellowstone, but he has a problem with the show:
"They're making all the land in Wyoming super-expensive" ?
(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/dK3TS3S3kT
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 24, 2023
He also talked about re-signing with the Mets, how the Cohens are truly committed to winning a World Series, and how his eight-year, $162 million deal came together quickly. But we already knew that, as Billy Eppler, Scott Boras, and Steve Cohen hashed out most of the details via group text.
These types of interviews are great. They humanize players for the fans watching, and we get a glimpse of what can be going through their minds during an inning. But then again, they’re paid millions of dollars to play this game. It’s probably hard to convince some to do it. So naturally, there’s a little incentive to help convince them: cold, hard cash.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post recently discussed this. ESPN started making these interviews a weekly occurrence last season. According to Marchand, players are paid $10,000 to chat with the broadcast booth during a game. This money comes from funds shared between MLB and the players’ association.
Not a bad side gig, right? After earning that huge payday this past winter, Nimmo technically doesn’t need it. But maybe he does since land in Wyoming is getting so expensive. We can be certain that the accountant in his family will put it to good — and responsible — use.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
