The Mets are all about the future these days.
Limping home to another lackluster finish leaves them no choice.
So their enthusiasm after Brandon Nimmo took batting practice before last night’s 6-5 loss to the Reds was understandable.
The team’s most recent first-round pick sent liners around Citi Field before turning on an inside pitch and knocking it off the façade of the upper deck in right field. Nimmo made it clear that wasn’t something anyone should get used to.
“Home runs are mistakes for me,” Nimmo said. “That’s what happens when I get a little bit under it.”
The 13th overall pick left before last night’s game, which was just as well. Josh Stinson surrendered a three-run homer to Chris Heisey in the seventh to give the Reds a 6-4 lead, and an eighth-inning comeback was cut short when Jose Reyes was caught off second after his RBI double cut it to 6-5.
“This was a little portion of the dream,” Nimmo said. “The real dream is to be here consistently and for a long time.”
The outfielder had a chance to impress important people yesterday, with GM Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins watching his every move.
“He’s very, very athletic,” said Collins, who will travel to Fort Myers on Saturday to watch Nimmo and others in the instructional league. “He wants to play desperately.”
And that includes spending time over the winter at the Mets’ academy in the Dominican Republic.
Since signing with the Mets, Nimmo played in the Gulf Coast League, as well as Class-A Kingsport.
It was far different from
what Nimmo faced previously, because he grew up without high school baseball in Wyoming, a fact he joked about yesterday.
When asked about the difference in competition, Nimmo responded: “You mean Wyoming baseball, that kind of stuff? It’s OK, you can say it. It doesn’t offend me.”
He doesn’t believe the learning curve is much steeper for him than other 18-year-olds.
“It’s a higher competition level every day, but that’s what I feel it is for everyone,” said Nimmo, referencing his appearances in some all-star games after playing American Legion ball. “I knew what it was gonna look like, now it’s just getting comfortable with it.”
And he knows his next trip to Citi Field likely won’t be for a while.
“I’d love to be up here as soon as possible, but I do understand the process,” Nimmo said. “Some guys get rushed through too soon and it’s detrimental to their whole career. I want to do this right.”
Nimmo said he had grown accustomed to dealing with pressure and the media in recent months.
“I’ve had more experience with it since being drafted and since being targeted as this kid from Wyoming who someone saw ice fishing and it looked like he had quick hands,” he said.
Nimmo laughed when he said it, but both he and the Mets know he still has a long way to go.
* Collins said David Wright was OK after getting hit in the back in the ninth. Wright stayed in the game. . . . Jason Bay was unavailable again last night with a sinus infection. . . . Jason Isringhausen is still bothered by a herniated disk in his back and hopes to avoid a similar injury next season.
dan.martin@nypost.com