QUEENS, NY — Mets veteran outfielder Brandon Nimmo knew the winds were changing for the better at Citi Field on a 73-degree evening on Tuesday, when he tracked — and ultimately narrowly missed — Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams’ line drive that just snuck over the right-field wall for his ninth home run of the season.
“When I got back in [to the dugout], I said ‘Hey boys, you know that time I was talking about? It’s here, now,” Nimmo said.
Citi Field has generally been a pitcher-friendly park in its 16 years of service, but when the calendar flips to June and the temperature and humidity rise, the ball starts to fly out of the park.
It has been no different this season. The Mets and their opponents combined for 57 home runs in 30 games at Citi Field in April and May. In the first three games of June, not including Thursday’s series finale against the Nationals, there have been 11 home runs to leave the Queens yard.
Nimmo was the beneficiary of the change in weather on Wednesday night, when he homered twice in the Mets’ 5-0 victory.
His first came in the bottom of the fifth inning when his fly ball, which would have been a routine out just a few weeks earlier, continued to carry until it reached the first row of the left-center-field seats.
In the bottom of the seventh, he got around on a high-and-in cutter and sent it off the facade of the second deck in right field. It was the slowest ball he put in play, as it left his bat at 98.9 mph.
“It’s crazy how this field just flips a switch, but I’ll take it,” Nimmo said. “I’ll take every single one of them. Citi Field, it’s no joke. I tell you every single year. April and May here is no joke. There is a reason that this ballpark ranks at the bottom of ballparks [in home runs] every single year. And it’s not because of June, July, and August.”
The warmer weather is also starting to reward Juan Soto for what his analytics have been suggesting all season. The superstar right-fielder homered in each of the Mets’ first three June games at Citi Field, including a 408-foot smash to right-center field that left his bat at 107.5 mph in the bottom of the third on Wednesday night.
After batting .224 with a .745 OPS, eight home runs, and 25 RBI in 55 games through May 28, Soto entered Thursday batting .390 with a 1.375 OPS, five home runs, and 10 RBI in his previous 12 outings.
“With Juan, at the beginning of the year, he kept hitting 108 mph, 107 mph, and they get caught at the warning track,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I remember [Nimmo] saying, ‘Don’t worry, they’re going to start going out once the weather starts warming up.’ Now we’re seeing it.
“It’s changing… It’s crazy how this ballpark plays. In April and May, it’s cold. I don’t know if it’s the wind or something, but the ball doesn’t travel. But now we’ll see those balls finding the seats.”
