ARLINGTON, Texas — On the same day the Mets announced a new manager, Brandon Nimmo recounted a story about an old one.

The former Mets outfielder recovered from a 24-hour stomach bug just in time to welcome his former team to Texas for a three-game set. It wasn’t undercooked chicken, he assured, a tale Nimmo has since said was fabricated by former Mets manager Mickey Callaway during spring training in 2019.

For Nimmo and the Rangers, the series is a must-win. Texas is battling with the Houston Astros for the AL West title, and winning the division is probably their only chance to reach the postseason. For the Mets, it’s obviously different. Nimmo is well aware of where the Mets are in the standings, and well aware they’ve been playing better than their overall record might indicate since the trade deadline.

The Mets didn’t make it easy on them in the first game, opening with a 6-3 win.

“I think it’s been a tale of two seasons,” Nimmo said Tuesday at Globe Life Field. “I think that the team in the beginning, from what I’ve seen from the outside, is much different than the team that they are now. Not just because of the trade deadline, but they seem to be playing better baseball now and so I think it’s a real formidable team over there.”

Nimmo has been looking forward to the Mets coming to the Dallas area for months. A former first-round pick of the organization, he signed an eight-year contract in December 2022 with the hope — and intent — of wearing a Mets uniform for the rest of his career. He didn’t initially want to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a swap with the Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien. He and his wife, Chelsea, were building a house in Port St. Lucie that included an entire area big enough for team parties.

In recent weeks, Mets fans have tried to rewrite history, downplaying his role as a leader, and Pete Alonso’s as well. The two were part of a homegrown core that never won a World Series; what could they actually have contributed, right?

But then Alonso came back to New York and fans showed how much they appreciated him over three days by cheering for the Polar Bear in every at-bat. If you’re going to appreciate what Alonso did, you have to appreciate what Nimmo did on and off the field too, especially since he was there before Alonso, learning from leaders like Curtis Granderson and David Wright.

He may not have set the records that Alonso set, but he persevered when scouts thought he’d never make it. He played through plantar fasciitis during the 2024 postseason, running the bases with pain throughout what was otherwise a joyous month. He signed nearly every autograph anyone ever asked him to sign.

And he’s still performing in his age-33 season, putting up numbers comparable to the ones he put up for the Mets over the last few seasons.

“I honestly just think we weren’t thought of as the solution moving forward,” Nimmo said. “I don’t think we were blamed for what happened in the past; I think we were just thought of as not the solution going forward. I tried not reading any more into that than that.”

In Dallas, Nimmo doesn’t face the same scrutiny he did in New York, which isn’t necessarily a good or a bad thing. Not everyone can play in New York, and Nimmo knows he can not only play there, but thrive there. Like Frank Sinatra said, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

“In New York, it’s like, did you do it today or did you not?” he said. “You have to own up to that and it’s something that I learned really early on, way back in Brooklyn. I grew up in the system and I figured it out really early on, but when you come from other places and you go into it, it’s completely different.”

The Wyoming native is closer to family in Texas. His grandfather lives in the area and the Rangers recently had him throw out the first pitch. Nimmo grew to love the city, but he’s a cowboy at heart.

For Semien, it’s a return to where he won a World Series in 2023, helping the franchise capture its first-ever championship.

“That’s the only ring I’ve ever won in my career,” Semien said. “I think about the fans and people who’ve been following this team for the entire time the team was in the Major Leagues and it didn’t happen until 2023. So very special for a lot of those fans.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Christian Scott’s season ended early with knee inflammation. The right-hander slipped while warming up on the mound in his last start, and didn’t need immediate attention, but his knee swelled up and became painful. The Mets placed him on the 15-day injured list, and activated closer Devin Williams. The team isn’t sure how they will deploy Williams over the next few days, but by pitching this week, he’ll be able to have a relatively normal offseason.