Port St. Lucie - A decision has been made regarding how the New York Mets' outfield is going to look this season.
According to Mets' first year manager Carlos Mendoza, Harrison Bader will be the team's everyday center fielder, which means Brandon Nimmo will be bumped to left field.
Bader, who the Mets brought in this winter on a one-year, $10.5 million deal, is statistically the best defensive center fielder in baseball when he is healthy. But he has dealt with a slew of injuries in recent years, missing a total of 199 games since the start of the 2021 season.
Center field is also a physically demanding position for the lower body across a full 162 game season. This is why Nimmo admitted that he is optimistic of how the change to left will benefit him health-wise this year. Unfortunately, he will be asked to play center field everyday again if Bader goes down with injury.
But on paper, the addition of Bader significantly improves the Mets' outfield defense and their defense up the middle with Gold Glove caliber shortstop Francisco Lindor, second baseman Jeff McNeil and catcher Francisco Alvarez.
The Mets also need help on offense, which is why they need a healthy Bader because he has shown pop in the past when he stays on the field. For example, Bader's five home runs in the postseason for the Yankees back in 2022 made a major difference on the Bronx Bombers' offense.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has indicated that he is happy with the roster he has built and wants to see what his young guys can do. Bader is the lone external face that will be in the lineup everyday, so they need some production from him. But on defense, he is a major upgrade, so it is not surprising that the Mets are letting him play center everyday and moving Nimmo to left.
More must-reads: