Well that was shocking.
Seriously, I did not see this coming at all. I was thinking, like most people were thinking, that the Mets would go with a pitcher in the first round and the #13 pick, but instead they got an Outfielder in Brandon Nimmo, who does not have your normal story. You know when ever you are talking about a place where no one is from, the first state that usually comes to mind is Wyoming? Well that's where Nimmo is from, he is from Wyoming. There is no high school baseball there. Really. None. He has to play a prep school and I was able to dig up some statistics for him from the 2010 season:
2010 – .448 BA, 212 AB, 98 R, 95 H, 23 2B, 6 3B, 15 HR, 84 RBI, 66 BB, 34 SB
Some things jump out about the above numbers. First, I have no idea what to compare these numbers too, they are amazing, but I have no idea where to situate them in context. He has more runs than hits, and he hit well over .400 so that team must have had an awesome lineup and offense. From a purely statistical standpoint he looks amazing.
Being picked high also says something about this draft. The Mets wanted a bat (unless if they wanted Jungmann, who was picked right before the Mets pick) and they had their eye on Nimmo (as they were talking about during the draft) so rather than going for best available, they went for their guy, who probably wouldn't be around the next time through (a lot of people had him going to Texas at #33). I'm all right with going for your guy, if it pans out.
The word on him is he is very athletic, and has a lot of interesting tools with speed now and probable power later. Without the play in the state though, he is also a mystery. If you wanted a high risk / high reward first draft pick, this is probably it.
He currently has a commitment with the University of Arkansas.
