Mets shut down Brandon Nimmo for a couple of days after ‘gel injection’ in knee; still hopeful for Opening Day

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza had an update on Brandon Nimmo prior to Saturday’s spring training game and revealed they’ll be shutting down their outfielder for a couple of days.

Mendoza said that Nimmo took some at-bats yesterday without issue, but when he did some running, he couldn’t get past the 85 percent mark, which is when Nimmo and the organization decided to give the veteran outfielder an injection in his knee.

“It’s a gel injection to help lubricate the joint,” Mendoza said. “No activities for 48-72 hours, and we’ll ramp him back up again.”

The Mets skipper revealed that Nimmo will still hit the bags in the weight room while down but no baseball activities for a few days, and then they’ll re-evaluate him. But when Mendoza was asked about Opening Day, he said they are all shooting for Nimmo to make it back by then because of how early they are doing this, and that there are still plenty of spring training games left for him to get at-bats.

This news comes after Nimmo had an MRI done on his knee earlier in the week, which showed no damage. But the discomfort Nimmo felt trying to run at 100 percent flagged them.

“I wouldn’t say worried,” Mendoza said when asked how worried he was with the recent rash of injuries for Nimmo. “Talking to him, he doesn’t seem to be too concerned. So we’ll see.”

Opening Day for the Mets is March 27 in Houston, and although Mendoza and the organization are hopeful that Nimmo will get back on the field, they will continue to monitor his progress.

“Once we get closer to Opening Day and whether he’s not running at 100 percent, not getting at-bats or he’s not doing baseball activity, then we’ll probably start to have those conversations [about missing Opening Day],” Mendoza said. “But that’s not the case as we sit here.”

Nimmo has appeared in just one spring training Feb. 28 against the Nationals. In that game, he went 0-for-1 with a walk.