LOS ANGELES — Add injury to insult.
Brandon Nimmo revealed to The Athletic after Sunday night’s Game 1 loss in the NLCS that he’s been dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot since May, and that the outfielder irritated the injury in Game 3 of the NLDS against Philadelphia.
That’s why Nimmo could be seen limping throughout the Mets’ 9-0 loss to the Dodgers.
“Right now it hurts pretty good,” Nimmo said after going 0-for-3 in the loss. He was pinch hit for in the ninth inning. “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 believed he aggravated the injury in the sixth inning of Game 3 last Tuesday, either while faking down the third-base line to distract Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering or when scoring on Starling Marte’s two-run single.
Nimmo said the foot doesn’t bother him much at the plate or when throwing in the outfield. But running causes him pain.
“I think when I really need it, I’m probably not 100 percent but I can get going pretty good,” he said. “But it’s uncomfortable.”
He had been hopeful that the Mets’ three days of rest between the end of the NLDS and the start of the NLCS would have benefited his foot more.
“It did get better. It wasn’t as good as I was hoping when I got out there,” he said. “We’ll just keep doing what we can to stay out on the field.”
Nimmo said he would still be in the lineup for the Mets moving forward.
“It’s the NLCS,” he said. “You do whatever you can in order to get out there and help in any way you can.”
At this point, that’s a lot of soft-tissue massage, stretching and strengthening the area in the heel.
“It’s something that we know will get better with time,” he said. “After the season it’s at least a PRP injection but you can’t do that right now. So right now we’re doing what we can with painkillers and anti-inflammatories and stretching in order to give what I can for that day.”
Nimmo is of course a vital part of the Mets lineup. Through Sunday, he’s hitting .241 with a .353 on-base percentage and .698 OPS in the postseason. He’s hit third or fourth in each game.
(Photo of Brandon Nimmo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
