The Mets will be well represented during the upcoming 2023 World Baseball Classic, with players like Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Edwin Diaz, among others, playing for their home countries. But one notable Met who won’t be playing in the WBC is outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who did play for Italy during the 2017 WBC.
Nimmo, who has been working out at the Mets spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla. since mid-December, said on Monday that he felt it was in the best interest of both himself and the team if he sat out of this year’s tournament, especially after signing a new eight-year, $162 million deal earlier this offseason.
"Once I signed, I did consider it, but my past experience was that I did get injured in the last game against Puerto Rico in 2017 and unfortunately with the travel being to Taiwan for Italy this year, I just felt like, you know what, that’s a risk I can’t take on signing this contract and being with this team and the way that Steve [Cohen] has set it up," Nimmo explained. "I would really kick myself if something happened.
"To be quite honest with you, in order to be prepared for that the right way, I would have even needed to start [working out] a month earlier, and I’m hoping that we’re playing well after this regular season ends. So, I’m hoping on adding a month to a month-and-a-half of a season after this. We just felt like it was best for the team if I did not [play]."
Nimmo suffered a hamstring injury in the 2017 WBC that resulted in him being off the Opening Day roster. He then remained in the minors until mid-June and ended up playing just 69 major league games that season.
So with all of that in mind, Nimmo opted to sit out of this year’s tournament, despite having great memories from the 2017 tournament.
"It’s a lot of travel, it’s right in the middle of spring training, and again, we just felt like – I loved my experience at the WBC. It was awesome, it gave me so much joy," he said. "I still remember us coming back against Mexico the first night in Mexico and winning that game. It was awesome, it was a great experience, but for what we’re trying to accomplish in winning a World Series, we felt like it was counterproductive to the goal in mind."