Brandon Nimmo was initially diagnosed with a bruised finger after leaving in the seventh inning in a game against the Phillies on May 1, but it took more than two months for the outfielder to make his return.
Nimmo felt the pain in his finger almost instantly after getting jammed and fouling off a Zack Wheeler fastball, but never anticipated the injury would lead to concerns of potential nerve damage before an eventual diagnosis of a partially detached ligament helped shed more light on why Nimmo was consistently feeling pain, which led to a setback on his first rehab assignment two weeks after his injury.
"In my layman way of understanding it would be that [the ligament] kind of like came off the bone a touch," Nimmo said. "Not all the way, but about half way. So it's gotten the time to heal now. Like I said, it's felt good for the last few weeks."
Nimmo hasn't felt pain in his finger for nearly three weeks, and while he hasn't had an MRI or any imaging tests done, he was assured that once the discomfort was gone, he would be able to ramp up his progression, which led to his placement in the Mets lineup on Friday night before the game was postponed.
"From the doctor's standpoint, it was, 'Your body will let you know when it's good to go. When you're not feeling that pain anymore, it's good to go,'" Nimmo said.
Nimmo said he didn't feel any pain at all during his most recent rehab assignment, and feels the injury is fully behind him, especially with the relief that he avoided a nerve issue, which would have lingered much longer.
"We've had positive work moving forward from about three weeks ago," Nimmo said. "We've tried to handle this with gloved hands ever since the setback. It's been going in a positive direction for a few weeks now."
Nimmo should present a big boost to a struggling Mets lineup, as he was slashing .318/.430/.439 in 80 plate appearances before suffering his injury, and New York will need him if it wants to keep its narrow hold on first place in the NL East.
"Hopefully I can just bring that grittiness, just trying to not give at-bats away, being able to control the strike zone, just stick to the things that I'm good at," Nimmo said. "Hopefully I can add a positive piece, but time will tell on that."
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