LOS ANGELES — Brandon Nimmo made a surprising admission after the Mets’ NLCS Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night. The outfielder has been dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot since May, a painful foot condition that he’s determined to play through this month.
Plantar fasciitis is the inflammation of the tissue (plantar fascia) that connects the heel to the toes and runs through the arch of the foot. It’s typically felt as a stabbing pain near the heel and can be difficult to manage when playing on it daily. Nimmo managed it well throughout the season with treatment, but he irritated it in Game 3 of the NLDS last week at Citi Field.
“I think it got worse just the past series. He’ll come in and get worked on, he’s been doing that the whole year,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Monday at Dodger Stadium. “He got to a point where you see him limping when he’s taking the field and things like that. But it was nothing serious until, like I said, last week.”
If it was earlier in the season, the Mets might consider placing him on the IL to let the inflammation subside, but Nimmo will continue to manage it with the Mets this far into the postseason. The Mets could use him as a DH to get him off of his feet in the outfield, and now that Jeff McNeil has been activated they wouldn’t lose much defensively, but it doesn’t sound like it’s a consideration at the moment.
“He keeps telling me he’s good to play in the outfield,” Mendoza said. “He’s going to be honest with me.”
Nimmo told The Athletic’s Tim Britton on Sunday night. He’ll receive a platelet-rich plasma injection following the season, but a regenerative shot like that requires time off, so it’s not something he can do while the Mets are still playing.
A key leader on the team and an important part of the lineup, Nimmo is hitting .241 with one home run and four RBI in the postseason. He posted a .944 OPS in the NLDS going 4-for-14 with a home run, three RBI and four walks.
BULLPEN OUTLOOK
Reed Garrett kept his pitch-count low enough in Game 1 to be able to pitch in Game 2 if needed. The right-hander was efficient over 1 1/3 innings, using only 15 pitches. The Mets have all of their high-leverage relievers available and Mendoza could be aggressive with them given the off-day between Games 2 and 3.
“I am available today,” Garrett said. “I think right now it’s all hands on deck at all times, so I feel great.”
A journeyman reliever, Garrett hasn’t logged this many innings since he was still a starting pitcher in the Texas Rangers organization in 2015. He’s been big for the Mets this season, but especially effective in the postseason, with five scoreless innings (two hits and six strikeouts). Garrett spent two seasons in Japan, and though he remembers the time as a difficult one where he fought homesickness, he’s grateful for the experience.
With Kodai Senga, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani all playing in this series, he’s heard from some former teammates during his time in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.
“To see that culture and see how every day when we walked in the clubhouse in Japan and Shohei Ohtani’s at-bat is on TV, to know that that whole country is invested and involved in the series, it’s kind of personal for me,” Garrett said. “I’m glad to be able to say that I was a part of that as well.”
GAME 3
Right-hander Luis Severino will start Game 3 for the Mets at Citi Field. The team sent him back on an earlier flight Monday morning, but Severino was clearly still in the visitor’s dugout in spirit. He left for the airport wearing 59 on his face in eye black, as a show of support to Game 2 starter Sean Manaea, who wears No. 59.
Mendoza hopes he keeps the number on his face throughout the flight to New York.
“I hope he does and I hope somebody takes a picture,” he said.
Right-hander Walker Buehler will start for the Dodgers.
