Mets' Brandon Nimmo suffers setback with finger injury
Brandon Nimmo of the Mets follows through on his fifth-inning two-run base hit against the Nationals at Citi Field on April 23. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brandon Nimmo is rejoining the Mets, but not as an active player.
Because a bruised left index finger continues to bother Nimmo, the Mets abandoned his rehabilitation assignment. The plan now is for Nimmo to meet the team in Atlanta on Monday and rest and get treatment — and do little baseball activity until he feels really, truly ready.
"Until he is 100% pain-free, we're not going to have him out there, taking at-bats or playing rehab games," manager Luis Rojas said Sunday morning.
Nimmo played for Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday but left early when experiencing pain, which caused him to miss the next two games. He has been on the injured list since May 5 after dealing with the finger problem for a few days.
Rojas said Nimmo has seen a hand specialist as well as other doctors in New York City and Syracuse
A deGrom delay?
Jacob deGrom (tight lower back) might pitch in a minor-league game before returning to a major-league mound, Rojas said. That would mean missing the Marlins series next weekend and at least a second start, one more than he had hoped.
DeGrom’s first bullpen session, penciled in for Tuesday, will help determine which route the Mets take.
"There’s different things that we can do not to rush him," Rojas said.
Rehabbers
Among other injured Mets, Noah Syndergaard (Tommy John surgery) is expected to start a rehab assignment in the next few days. So is Seth Lugo (right elbow bone chip surgery).
J.D. Davis (sprained left hand) is slated to join Syracuse on Tuesday.
Extra bases
Joey Lucchesi (short rest), Jordan Yamamoto (short rest) and Thomas Szapucki (regular rest) are among the candidates to start Tuesday against Atlanta, Rojas said. Szapucki is the biggest prospect of the bunch . . . Luis Guillorme (strained right oblique) isn’t swinging yet . . . Jim Riggleman, the Mets’ bench coach in 2019, the attended Mets-Rays game as a fan Sunday.
