Mets’ Brandon Nimmo struggling to break out of slump: ‘Expect more of myself’

SEATTLE — Brandon Nimmo was among the notable players omitted from the National League All-Star team following a torrid six-week stretch.

Since returning from the break, the Mets outfielder has been anything but the player who helped carry the lineup during the team’s surge into wild-card contention.

Nimmo entered Sunday with a .158/.286/.197 slash line in the second half and the embodiment of the team’s collective struggles offensively.

Nimmo — who was 0-for-3 with a walk in Sunday’s 12-1 loss — spoke with manager Carlos Mendoza after the Mets were shut out for a second straight game on Saturday.

Many of the same feelings were conveyed to Mendoza as Nimmo expressed in his postgame interview session.

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“There’s no question I have been doing really poorly since the All-Star break and I expect more of myself,” Nimmo said. “I expect more of myself and I am working at it every day, but it’s not good enough. I am one of the leaders on this team. I am supposed to come through. I am supposed to do better and I’m not.”

That level of accountability is appreciated by Mendoza and his staff.

“He wants to produce,” hitting coach Eric Chavez said. “He feels an obligation to the team, like [Francisco] Lindor and these guys, and it’s what leaders do. They feel responsible when they hit in the middle of the lineup, but Brandon is working hard trying to get out of it. There’s not a whole lot that we see from our end that are huge red flags.”

Nimmo hit nine homers over a three-week stretch beginning in mid-June.

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Entering Sunday, he had not hit a homer in the three weeks since the All-Star break.

“He’s scuffling and he’s kind of working hard to figure some things out,” Chavez said. “This is kind of a hard one to explain. The way he ended the All-Star break, I don’t think anybody anticipated this coming.”

Chavez’s lament is the All-Star break occurred when it did.

The Mets haven’t been the same team offensively since.

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“I think the break came at a bad time for us collectively,” Chavez said. “I was not looking forward to it, but this is going to turn. We are just trying to get him out of this rut and hopefully going back to the East Coast and a change of scenery, things like that, will get better.”

Nimmo stayed late after Friday’s game to hit in the batting cage, but wasn’t immediately rewarded: He went 0-for-3 with a walk on Saturday.

“Mechanically there’s not a ton, but we’re continuing to work hard and try not to put too much pressure on himself,” Chavez said. “That’s why there’s nine hitters in the lineup.

“Nobody should feel responsible to carry the team. Usually you have two or three guys in the lineup. Nobody should feel responsible to carry the team. You usually have two or three guys that are producing and right now we’re just not hitting collectively as a group.”

One thing is certain: the Mets will welcome a return to Citi Field following a four-city trip over three different time zones that included a makeup game in St. Louis on Monday.

The Mets entered play 4-5 on the trip.

“Every team has these kinds of road trips,” Chavez said. “The makeup game … whatever, we could come up with excuses but I think the combination of the road trip and [the Mariners] are really good at pitching, that kind of took over.”

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