MILWAUKEE — Brandon Nimmo debuted with the Mets in 2016, one year after the team’s unexpected run to the World Series that ended with a Game 5 loss to the Royals.
As the longest-tenured Mets player, Nimmo understands this sobering fact better than his teammates: it’s been nine years since the team has won a postseason series.
There was a wild-card berth in Nimmo’s rookie season that ended with a one-game loss to the Giants. And then, in 2022, the Mets lost a best-of-three wild-card series to the Padres at Citi Field.
The Mets began another wild-card series on Tuesday, against the Brewers, and for Nimmo, just getting here isn’t enough.
“I have been fortunate enough to be a part of three [postseasons], but the biggest thing I have noticed is the teams that make it a regular thing of getting in here, they seem to have the success,” Nimmo said.
The Astros, Braves and Dodgers all fall into that category. Only providing inspiration for the Mets might be the fact the last two NL pennant winners — the Phillies and Diamondbacks — emerged as wild-card entrants.
The Mets won 89 games in the regular season, and in a sense Tuesday might have felt like an extension of that: they returned to a venue, American Family Field, in which they just played three games over the weekend.
Also, by playing a doubleheader Monday in Atlanta, the customary workout day before a postseason was eliminated.
“It actually brings a sense of normalcy to it,” Nimmo said. “Maybe that will work to our advantage.”
Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Starling Marte are among the holdovers from the team that won 101 games two years ago but got overmatched by the Padres in the wild-card series.
Last season, the Mets became sellers at the trade deadline and didn’t seriously compete for the postseason in the second half.
This season the Mets fell 11 games under .500 in late May before a revival heading into the All-Star break turned the postseason into a tenable goal.
“It’s definitely been a journey and it’s one that I am not finished on,” Nimmo said. “But that is the goal, to start making this a regular thing and to start having success in the postseason.
“I would say that nobody at the beginning of this season thought we would be in this position. For us to be here right now is a huge accomplishment, but I know for the guys in the locker room and myself, we’re not here to roll over. We think we’re a really great team and that we have really got a shot. The last two postseasons would point to the fact the wild-card teams seem to have something about them.”
The Mets October run in 2015 was fueled by Daniel Murphy, who homered in six straight games to establish a postseason record.
The theme in their postseason futility since has been scarce offense. Included was getting shut out by the Padres in their last postseason game before Tuesday.
“It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past,” Nimmo said. “It’s all about who is playing the best baseball right now. It’s kind of almost like a new start to the season. It’s a new Opening Day and it’s whoever is the best right now.”