New York Mets avoid injury scare with star on fire after hotel room accident

The New York Mets and their star outfielder appear to have avoided disaster.

As manager Carlos Mendoza explained to reporters in Washington, D.C., Brandon Nimmo slipped in his hotel room while trying to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and suffered a cut to his forehead. Nimmo was hospitalized until Monday afternoon, but fortunately all tests came back negative and he does not have a concussion.

The crisis was averted, but Nimmo is out of the Mets’ lineup tonight as the team prepares to face the Washington Nationals in a four-game road series.

Mendoza believes all parties were lucky. The Mets captain was awakened by a text message from the team’s trainers in the middle of the night regarding Nimmo. Mendoza didn’t know if Nimmo received stitches, but called the situation “scary.” Nimmo alerted the Mets’ trainers immediately after the late-night/early-morning scare.

Nimmo later spoke to reporters in the Nationals’ dugout and called his cut a “Harry Potter scar.” He passed out in the bathroom Sunday night but is doing well now, although he hasn’t slept or eaten. He hopes to be back in the Mets’ lineup Tuesday.

Nimmo has been one of the Mets’ best hitters during the team’s torrid stretch. After being moved from leadoff to second, the 31-year-old hit .291/.376/.521 with an .897 OPS and six home runs in his last 30 games. After a slow start to the season, Nimmo has inflated his numbers to .247/.367/.448 with an .815 OPS, 13 home runs and 50 RBIs in 77 games.

The Mets, on the rise, can’t afford to lose Nimmo for an extended period of time, but early signs suggest they may have avoided something more serious.