Brandon Nimmo named Mets' winner of 2022 Heart and Hustle Award

As Tim Britton noted for The Athletic, New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo recently broke out of a batting slump in a big way when he delivered a game-winning two-run home run in last Friday's victory over the division-rival Miami Marlins. 

Per ESPN stats, Nimmo entered Thursday leading the Mets with 64 runs scored, and he's tied for 13th among all MLB players in that category. He's fourth among eligible Mets players with a .272 batting average, and he's also contributed 10 home runs and 39 RBI. 

The 29-year-old offensive catalyst and spark plug was recently honored for his overall contributions to the Mets that go beyond just stats. 

Per the club's official insider blog, the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) announced on Thursday that Nimmo has been named the 2022 Mets' recipient of the Heart and Hustle Award. The piece notes that the Heart and Hustle Award "recognizes one player on each Major League team who demonstrates a passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game." 

Each team has a single winner of the award per season, and roughly 8,600 current and alumni player members of the MLBPAA will vote to choose one overall winner of the season's Heart and Hustle Award that will be announced this fall during the playoffs. Nimmo previously was the Mets' recipient of the award in 2018. 

Last week, Mike Puma of the New York Post noted that the Mets could potentially name Nimmo their captain if the two sides eventually come to terms on a long-term contract extension. 

"[The captaincy] is something I haven’t really thought about before, but it would be awesome," Nimmo remarked. "It would be really special, but there are so many guys on this team that lead by example and it’s hard for me to say you put that on one guy. You see Pete [Alonso], you see Starling [Marte], you see Max [Scherzer]. I would like to think I am a part of that.

"But you see those guys just lead by example and Francisco [Lindor] in different ways and bring different elements to the table, whether it’s vocally, whether it’s what they are doing, whether it’s the attitude that they bring every day, whether it’s the hard work that you don’t see and only the guys in the clubhouse see."