Brandon Nimmo strains hamstring in World Baseball Classic

In Italy’s 9-3 loss to Puerto Rico on Sunday, Brandon Nimmo suffered a Grade 1 strain to his right hamstring, according to manager Marco Mazzieri. He sustained the injury chasing down an Enrique Hernandez triple hit to the right-center gap in the bottom of the fifth, but was thankfully able to leave the field on his own power.The injury is a blow to Team Italy, which is 1-2 in the tournament. In Italy’s come-from-behind 10-9 win over Team Mexico, Nimmo went 1-for-5 with an RBI. In their 11-10 extra-innings loss to Team Venezuela, he went 1-for-5 with a walk and a strikeout, but his one hit was a solo home run off of Bruce Rondon.

This current injury is one of several over the course of young Nimmo’s career. While not necessarily injury-prone, Nimmo has been plagued injuries in his career. In 2013, the outfielder was hit by a pitch on his wrist and spent much of the year dealing with lingering issues related to the injury. In 2014, he injured his knee and spent much of the year dealing with lingering issues related to that injury. In 2015, he sprained his left ACL, and going into the 2016 season, he partially tore a tendon in his left foot.

While it might be easy to blame the injury on Nimmo’s participation in the World Baseball Classic, it is important to note that the injury was sustained during routine baseball activities, and it is just as likely to have happened with the Mets during a spring training game as it did with Team Italy in the WBC.