NEW YORK -- Brandon Nimmo's adventure began at approximately 3:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday, when he left New York City for Las Vegas. Optioned back to the Mets' Triple-A affiliate there to receive steadier playing time, Nimmo was at peace with his demotion.
He landed around 7 p.m. PT, grabbed his bags and hopped in an Uber, which whisked him off to his apartment. Arriving there 15 minutes later, Nimmo received the first of several frantic calls. Yoenis Céspedes was heading to the disabled list. Please report back to New York City immediately.
So Nimmo turned around, reversed his route to the airport, grabbed a quick meal past security and boarded a 10 p.m. PT red-eye flight back to New York. All told, he was in Las Vegas for about three hours, most of those spent at the airport.
And when Nimmo arrived in New York, of course, there was traffic.
"It's kind of hard to sleep on the plane when you're upright," Nimmo said. "I had the exit row, but those don't lean back. So it was tough. I think I pieced together like three hours of sleep on the plane, then got like four or five when I got back to the hotel. But I'm glad to be back. Here, you run on adrenaline pretty easily."
When Nimmo walked into Yankee Stadium at around 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, teammate Josh Edgin pointed out that he was wearing the same clothes he left in the day before. Nimmo was also without his equipment bag, which the Mets had shipped separately to Las Vegas. He planned to borrow a glove for Thursday's game.
"It's been an interesting day," Nimmo said, laughing. "But I'm glad to be back."