Brandon Nimmo Heads to IL and Leaves Mets Without Outfielders

It's been a little over a month (April 16) since New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo was forced from a game against the Phillies with a stiff neck. The 26-year-old originally elected to tough it out and convinced the club to not place him on the IL, claiming that the ailment would only cause in-game discomfort.

Now, however, it appears that the injury is more serious than Nimmo and the Mets originally thought. The relentless hustler landed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, less than 24 hours after he was a late scratch from Tuesday's game against Washington.

And the news couldn't come at a worse time for New York, as the injury leaves the Mets with only three naturally-positioned outfielders presently on their big league roster -- Juan Lagares, Carlos Gomez and aging vet Rajai Davis (whom the club was forced to call up in a corresponding move ).

“I was more worried about defense than offense," said Nimmo on Tuesday. "Offensively, I can kind of compromise on some of that, but definitely I wasn’t going to be able to track balls in right-center field. I’m a little bit concerned about it.”

Nimmo is hitting just .200 with a .667 OPS in 43 games after a breakout 2018 campaign, so perhaps the youngster needs time away from the game to get his mind right.

With Michael Conforto dealing with a concussion, Yoenis Cespedes suffering an ankle fracture and the team's decision to send Keon Broxton to the Orioles, the Mets are extremely shallow in the outfield.

In the meantime, however, we can expect utility man Jeff McNeil to be flexed into the outfield for rotational purposes. Simply put, he's the only other option that manager Mickey Callaway currently has at his disposal.