BROOKLYN CYCLONES: Brandon Nimmo Is Grand With Slam In Win Over Valley Cats. Batting .400 in August; Continues To Rake In Lead-Off Spot.
Due to the NYPL All Star break, and for missing five games after getting hit by a pitch in the shoulder, Brandon Nimmo has only played in ten games during the month of August. But what a month it has been for him none the less. Because remember, in the NYPL, ten games mean something, as A) - the regular season is drawing to a close, and B) the NYPL season is only seventy-six games long. Additionally, considering how June and July went for Brandon, to see him now is to know he is on fire.
The thirteenth overall pick of the 2011 draft, Brooklyn's center fielder is showing why he was thought of so highly as a nineteen year old out of Wyoming. But his season didn't start out as well. Through twelve games in the opening month of June, he struggled to hit .200 on the nose. He sported a .407 OBP however, on the strength of thirteen base on balls.
In twenty-nine games, he batted .270 in July. There was much more going on though. In 115 at-bats, he scored eighteen runs, ripped eleven doubles, and had seventeen RBI for the month. Through ten games in August, he is batting at a .400 clip.
There is actually, a specific moment when Brandon Nimmo's season turned around. That came on July 25th, in the first game of a road trip that started against the Batavia Muckdogs. In that game, Coach Donnelly moved Brandon Nimmo from the eighth spot in the line-up, where he was hitting .228 till that point in the season, and into the lead-off spot. Since then, the Cyclones have played twenty-one games, and Brandon Nimmo has batted .382 over that span.
After fifty-one games, and 195 at-bats, Brandon has fifty-five hits this season. Eighteen of those are doubles. With thirty-three walks, his OBP now sits at an even .400 mark. And that was Coach Donnelly's original intention - to take advantage of his OBP. While Brandon Nimmo's on-base percentage warranted the move at the time, his batting average was screaming, no! The Cyclones' center fielder has been on fire ever since. His batting average has climbed fifty-four points since July 25th, and now sits at a .282 mark. On Friday evening, in the series finale against the Tri City Valley Cats, Brandon Nimmo capped off a big, six run ninth inning with a grand slam home run. It was his fourth home run of the season.
The Cyclones started a three game series in Vermont Saturday, against the Lake Monsters. They began the night 2.5 games back in the McNamara Division, behind the first place Hudson Valley Renegades. Nineteen games remain in the regular season. For the moment, the Cyclones lead the Wild Card race by 4.5 games over the Batavia Muckdogs, who have over-taken the State College Spikes for second.
Mike.BTB
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