NEW YORK -- The last time the Mets saw Brandon Nimmo, he was nursing a hamstring strain that knocked him off their Opening Day roster. A nerve injury to his hand followed, and a rough stretch at Triple-A Las Vegas prevented Nimmo from returning to the big leagues until now.
Admittedly, Nimmo, the Mets' No. 7 prospect, is still not swinging the bat as well as he would like, batting just .223 at Las Vegas. But the Mets found themselves with an outfield need when Juan Lagares fractured the IP joint in his left thumb on Thursday, so they recalled Nimmo and infielder Matt Reynolds before Friday's game against the Nationals. As expected, Matt Harvey joined Lagares on the DL with a stress injury to the scapula bone in his right shoulder.
"It's great to be back," Nimmo said. "I'm just trying to help these guys out however I can. I'm healthy and I'm excited about that."
The move brings the Mets back to a standard five-man bench. That is likely to last until Tuesday, when they need a starter to replace Harvey.

Reynolds was with the Mets for six weeks earlier this season, batting .174 with one home run and one RBI in 20 games. In 15 games for Las Vegas, he hit .286 with three doubles, one home run and five RBIs.
He, like Nimmo, will come off the bench in New York -- a role the latter became familiar with after making his big league debut last season. In 80 plate appearances, Nimmo hit .274, positioning himself to make the Mets' 2017 Opening Day roster when Lagares got injured toward the end of camp.

But Nimmo injured his hamstring playing for Team Italy during the World Baseball Classic, and did not return to Las Vegas until April 26.
"It's adversity and baseball's full of it," Nimmo said. "We're all tested on how we can deal with that. It's been an interesting year so far. Obviously, I would have loved to have been up here earlier, and helped out the team out of spring. But that's not the way things worked out."