New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo has been stricken with plantar fasciitis in his left foot since early this summer, he revealed to The Athletic on Sunday after the Mets' loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. Nimmo said the condition popped up in May.
"Right now it hurts pretty good," Nimmo, who was pinch-hit for during the ninth inning, told The Athletic. "The second-to-last game against Philadelphia, I did something on the field and made it quite a bit worse. … When it gets inflamed and flares up, it's a harder thing to calm down."
Nimmo, 31, had a down season relative to his standards. He hit .224/.327/.399 with 23 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 151 games. The resulting 107 OPS+ was the worst full-season mark of his big-league career. It's perhaps notable that he didn't post an OPS of .700 or better in any of the final three months.
Thus far in the postseason, Nimmo has hit .241/.353/.345 in 29 at-bats. He's homered but has yet to attempt a stolen base.
Nimmo suggested to The Athletic that he'll continue to play with the aid of anti-inflammatory medication and massages, and that he's unable to receive a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection until after the Mets' playoff run concludes. Should the situation reach a point where the Mets must replace Nimmo on the roster -- and it doesn't seem like that's in consideration -- then he would be ineligble to partake in the next round, which happens to be the World Series.
Nimmo and the Mets will take on the Dodgers for Game 2 Monday afternoon. Historically, MLB teams who gain a 2-0 advantage in a best-of-seven series go on to win those series nearly 84% of the time. As such, the Mets will very much have their backs against the wall with another loss.
