KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Brandon Nimmo’s insomnia subsided, but the Mets outfielder can’t say the same about the tightness in his left quadriceps.
Nimmo missed a second straight start Wednesday with the quad discomfort that he first felt during batting practice a day earlier.
As for the insomnia, Nimmo said that occurred Saturday night after the Mets traded Max Scherzer to the Rangers.
“I didn’t get much sleep that night so we had a conversation the next morning,” Nimmo said, referring to general manager Billy Eppler. “It was just a lot of anxiety. I was just stressed out about, ‘OK, what does that mean for next year?’ I was trying to get a grasp on everything.”
Nimmo said the answers he received from Eppler were satisfactory and he’s confident the Mets will be in position to compete in 2024.
Scherzer’s co-ace, Justin Verlander, was also traded as part of the Mets’ roster overhaul.
“The way I look at it is the Marlins weren’t supposed to compete this year and [Eppler] never told me we weren’t going to compete next year,” Nimmo said before the Mets’ 4-0 loss to the Royals. “He just said, ‘Hey, we have got to kind of revamp some things and we’re probably not going to do what we did this year,’ when the payroll was at $370 [million] or something like that. But we still expect to win. This is going to be a great trial run for guys to get playing time. … I am hoping the young guys that are here will take advantage of that.”
Nimmo tested his quad in the outfield before the game and said he’s close to returning, but didn’t want to risk it.
David Peterson will return to the starting rotation Friday in Baltimore, according to manager Buck Showalter.
The lefty has thrived in a middle relief role, but the Mets are short on alternatives for the rotation following the departures of Scherzer and Verlander in trades over the last week.
It’s expected Tylor Megill will be recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to start Saturday, but Showalter wasn’t prepared to name a starter for that game.
Peterson last started July 8 before moving to the bullpen. He pitched to a 3.12 ERA in eight appearances overall in July.
Francisco Alvarez was named NL Rookie of the Month for July. In 21 games for the month, he produced a 1.003 OPS and his nine homers were fourth in the NL.
Phil Bickford and Jonathan Aruz were added to the major league roster and the Mets optioned Michael Perez and Vinny Nittoli to Syracuse.