Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis day-to-day with injuries
PHILADELPHIA — Brandon Nimmo (left index finger bruise) and J.D. Davis (left hand sprain) are avoiding the injured list, for now.
Nimmo got jammed in his last at-bat against Phillies pitcher Chase Anderson on Friday, which is when he first felt the discomfort in his finger. It came to a head on Saturday in the seventh inning, after Nimmo fouled off a pitch, appeared to be in a lot of pain, and exited during his at-bat.
“The last at-bat, it just felt like my hand exploded,” Nimmo said. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I was trying to gut through it after the first few ABs.”
Nimmo was not in the lineup against the Phillies on Sunday and does not believe his finger bruise will be a long-term situation. The center fielder said he wears a pad on his hand to prepare and prevent those injuries from happening, and he’s never before dealt with a bruise on his index finger. Nimmo began the season batting .447 with a 1.070 OPS over his first 11 games before being sidelined with right hip stiffness, which he said isn’t bothering him anymore.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Nimmo said. “I felt like it was going pretty well there, and I was helping the team out. And then just ran into the hip and it seemed like right when I felt like I’m kind of over the hump of the hip, this comes out of nowhere. So I’m extremely frustrated right now.”
Davis left Saturday’s game in the seventh inning with a hand sprain after he felt discomfort during his third at-bat. The third baseman said there’s inflammation on his left hand, which he phrased as “very odd and very strange,” and he wasn’t sure how the injury happened.
He was also not in Sunday’s lineup against the Phillies and is having a hard time swinging the bat but was able to take grounders. Davis last month was placed on the IL after getting hit by a pitch in the first series of the year. He returned and elevated as one of the Mets’ best hitters, batting .395 with a 1.097 OPS, two home runs and seven RBI over his next 12 games.
“You’re swinging a hot bat, you’re seeing the ball well, you’re playing well,” Davis said. “Of course, you don’t want to be taken out of the lineup.”
Mets manager Luis Rojas is optimistic that both Nimmo and Davis can stay off the IL and return to the lineup in the coming days.
“Our medical staff feels pretty good about it,” the skipper said.
STRO ON TRACK
Marcus Stroman exited his outing Friday after 64 pitches with a tight right hamstring. Stroman also ran the bases Friday on a brutally cold and windy night, which is when the team believed the injury happened. Following the game, Stroman was confident he would be ready for his next start, on Wednesday in St. Louis, and that outlook has still not changed.
“He’s moving really well,” Rojas said. “He did some exercises while we were taking BP yesterday, moving around, going left to right, doing all the drills, and he looked really good.”
