Inside The Mets

Mets’ Slugger Breaks Silence on Controversial All-Star Snub

Brandon Nimmo spoke out about not being named an NL All-Star despite having worthy statistics.

Grant Young

Jul 8, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo (9) hits a single against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 8, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo (9) hits a single against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo has a reputation for being a humble, soft-spoken person who lets his performances on the field do the talking for him.

But even he admitted surprise about getting snubbed from the 2024 MLB All-Star team. 

"I thought I had a pretty dang good shot, so I was pretty surprised when I wasn't on there," Nimmo said about his All-Star omission after Tuesday’s 7-5 win over the Washington Nationals, per SNY. 

"Just statistically speaking, I’m usually pretty truthful with myself. Like you said, in a lot of the categories that matter, I’m up there in NL outfielders. So yeah, definitely was surprised when that didn’t happen." 

Nimmo’s .826 OPS is currently ranked fourth among NL outfielders. He is also third in home runs (15), fourth in RBIs (58), and leads all NL outfielders in runs scored, with 57. All of these stats show why Nimmo, who has homered in back-to-back games, was worthy of an All-Star roster spot. 

One player who values Nimmo’s success this season is Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, who was also an All-Star snub this year. He and Nimmo typically comprise the top two spots in New York’s lineup, which has resulted in great success as of late. Lindor also addressed how important Nimmo’s presence behind him has been.

“He's been doing fantastic,” Lindor said of Nimmo on Tuesday. “The way he’s gone about his at-bats, the way he’s preparing and putting a lot of pressure on the pitchers. It seems like every pitcher when Nimmo comes up to the plate is in a high-leverage situation, and that’s really good."

Lindor and Nimmo will surely have chips on their respective shoulders after not receiving All-Star Game invites; considering how good they already are, that presents a downright scary scenario for opposing pitchers. 

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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