Rangers skipper sets early season expectations for newcomer Brandon Nimmo

The whole squad has officially reported to Arizona and we are less than a week away from games but one newcomer already has his status for 2026 more or less set in stone.

Brandon Nimmo, 32, was traded to the Rangers in November as part of a one-for-one swap that sent second baseman Marcus Semien to Queens as the newest second baseman for the New York Mets.

A much-needed outfield addition with the release of Adolis Garcia this winter and the uncertainity around the health of Evan Carter, there was some coversation about where in the outfield Nimmo would best fit. However, Rangers' manager Skip Schumaker seemed to clarify that early this spring.

Nimmo taking important roles in first season with Rangers

The Wyoming native and former first round pick arrived among the rest of the non-pitchers and catchers to camp this weekend on the heels of Sunday's first full squad workout of camp.

On Saturday he could be found taking batting practice on the back fields of the Rangers' spring complex is Surprise, Arizona. A day later, Schumaker said Nimmo is going to fill two important roles for Texas in 2026: 1) leadoff hitter and 2) everyday right fielder.

Nimmo has been a leadoff hitter practically his entire 10-year big league career, playing at least 151 games at the leadoff spot with the Mets the past four seasons. For his career, he's recorded 3,723 at-bats with 2,647 of those at-bats coming from the leadoff position in the lineup.

In the leadoff role, Nimmo has a slash line of .268/.372/.448 with 80 home runs, 261 RBIs, 116 doubles, 25 triples, 319 walks and an .820 OPS. He has also hit 14 career homers to lead off a game, a .360 OBP and a .425 slugging percentage.

As for his role in right field, it's the most understandable position for him to be in with Wyatt Langford coming off a Gold Glove finalist season in left field and Carter's range being the best among the three top options.

What is worrisome about Nimmo's defense though is his arm. It's not terrible, sitting just slightly below average in the 48th percentile last year. He did also lose a step in the outfield in 2025, going from one outs above average (OAA) in 2024 to -1 OAA in 2025.

Right field is also a relatively unfamiliar position for Nimmo, only playing 93 career games among the 1,000 games he played in the outfield. He has a career. 987 fielding percentage with 147 putouts, two assists and only two errors in 616.1 innings of work.