Monday, July 07

Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 16 seasons full-time on the beat.

NEW YORK -- Before giving birth to the family’s first child, Chelsea Nimmo was the sort of person constantly looking to nurture animals and plants, to foster dogs, to care for living things. Brandon Nimmo always saw those qualities in his wife.

So Nimmo hasn’t been surprised to see Chelsea embrace motherhood since the couple’s first child, a daughter named Tatum, arrived in November.

“I mean, she’s a rock star,” Nimmo said last week, as he prepared to celebrate Chelsea’s first Mother’s Day as a mom. “It’s like a switch flips when they become a mother. She’s willing to do whatever it takes in order for Tatum to be safe and be happy and be taken care of. She just loves her to death and will do anything for her. So you can tell it right from the beginning. I think she would even say it’s opened up a side of her that she had heard about before.”

Brandon and Chelsea met when the former was playing for Low-A Savannah of the South Atlantic League in 2013. The couple began dating the following summer and were married in 2017 -- Chelsea, a registered nurse, and Brandon, a baseball player.

“We’ve definitely grown as individuals throughout the relationship,” Nimmo said. “If we went back and met our 2014 selves, we’d be quite a bit different -- obviously with some core values right at the center of it. But it’s been fun to see the process grow. And then to be parents now, we still kind of have to pinch ourselves sometimes. It’s just crazy how fast the time goes.”

In addition to caring for Tatum’s needs, Chelsea has worked to help Brandon balance the responsibilities of becoming a father with those of being the Mets’ starting left fielder. Over the offseason, Nimmo’s priorities changed as the couple weighed what was best for Tatum, versus for themselves.

“Honestly, it’s made me respect and love Chelsea even more, because she just has taken to motherhood like a fish to water. She’s been a rock star through it all. She’s been such a good mom and such a good wife.”

Of the players to appear in at least one game for both the Mets and Cubs, who had the most combined home runs for those two franchises?

A. Javier Báez

B. Todd Hundley

C. Howard Johnson

D. Dave Kingman

Mets superstar Juan Soto has played himself onto countless lists that put him shoulder to shoulder with Hall of Famers as he became one of the game’s best hitters at such a young age, and he added yet another during the Mets’ series at Chase Field.

With four walks in the series, Soto reached 798 in his career, passing Mickey Mantle for the most in history for a player who has not yet turned 27. 

“Pretty impressive, especially when you’re talking about those names,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “And he’s only 26, and he’s already in that category. That’s not easy to do, and that’s what makes him a special hitter.”

Soto has set the record for most walks by a player his age every full season since his first full season as a 20-year-old in 2019, and there’s no sign of that trend stopping. He has until Oct. 25, 2026, to pass Mantle’s mark for a 27-year-old (892).

“His ability to control the strike zone, he’s done it since he got to the big leagues, and he continues to get better at it,” Mendoza said. “He’s not afraid to take his walks. If they don’t want to pitch to him, he’s going to continue to get on base.”

The four-time All-Star entered his first season with the Mets with the sky-high expectations you’d expect for a player who signed a 15-year, $765 million free-agent deal, but his first month and change saw him post numbers below his lofty standards.

Soto exited April with a slash line of .241/.368/.384, but he had a pair of multihomer games against the D-backs in the first week of May and has seemingly turned the corner. He’s hit safely in six out of seven May games and is slashing .346/.455/.885 for the month.

• Kodai Senga shook off control issues, and Soto homered twice for a series win. More >>

• Francisco Lindor homered and made an amazing tag in Arizona. More >>

• A.J. Minter opted to have season-ending surgery. More >>

D) Kingman

“Kong” hit 154 homers for the Mets and another 94 for the Cubs, for a total of 248. That edges Johnson, who had 192 with the Mets but only seven with the Cubs.

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