Just Mets

It seems like we’ve been talking about, waiting and debating Wilmer Flores forever. It’s difficult to remember he’s still only 23, still growing and still maturing as a baseball player. In retrospect, perhaps he hasn’t been given the patience he deserves by the fans, the media and possibly the club. I for one admit I am guilty of this impatience.

Last summer, it seemed as though the organization was willing to show some patience and give Flores a chance. For it was last July 24 when another call came for Flores to get on a plane and fly to New York to join the big league club once again.

It was his third stint with the Mets last season, only this call was not for him to be a spare part on the bench, or to replace an injured player at an unfamiliar position.

It was for the Mets to finally evaluate him as a starting middle infielder.

The situation with Flores reminds me of the situation previously with Lucas Duda. In both cases, the Mets were asking each player to learn new positions and play outside of a comfort zone. Both have played with various degrees of uncertainty on a day-to-day basis, not knowing whether or not the they were playing or sitting the next day. In the end, both have said at one point or another knowing they’re everyday players has helped their confidence levels, which they feel has translated to general performance improvements both offensively and defensively.

From the day he was recalled (and when Terry Collins said they were going to look at Flores in a full-time role), Flores would go on to start 49 of the final 53 games of the 2014 season. He hit .255 with a .703 OPS, five home runs and 22 RBI over that span. Four of those home runs and 14 of the RBI came in his final 26 games played, during which he hit .290 with an .827 OPS. Ten of those final 26 starts were at second base, the other 13 at shortstop.

Now, just a few months later, Flores finally finds himself in camp as the primary shortstop and to show he can be that player.

While Flores is certainly a flawed defensive shortstop, he’s more comfortable there than at any other position. He credits his experience – he’s played 485 games at shortstop in the minors, more than any other position – for that comfort.

“Absolutely,” Flores recently told me about his experience at shortstop. “That’s where I started, and played most of my professional career until a couple of years ago.”

Flores’ spring hasn’t been perfect by any means on the defensive side of the ball, as he opened his Grapefruit League with a couple of mistakes last Wednesday. But like the end of last season, he has also shown what he can get to he can play well, and yesterday in particular he showed off a strong arm on a couple of difficult plays to his right.

This is the kind of defensive shortstop he might be – he’s going to have days like yesterday when he shows he can make the non-routine plays, then there will be days like last Wednesday when his flaws are badly exposed. However, like Daniel Murphy three years ago, Flores is putting the hard work in on his defense to improve and ensure those bad days are kept at a minimum.

“He wants to be good,” Tim Teufel told the New York Post. “He just doesn’t want to be average. He wants to be better than that.”

The organization has always hoped Flores could make up for his lack of foot speed with his height and unusual reach (for a middle infielder). Flores has also endeavor end to improve his foot speed, thanks to spending two consecutive winters at Barwis Methods. That along with his extensive work on the middle infield this spring speaks to what Teufel referred to.

Having said that, the key will most certainly be in Flores’ bat, with the hope he can be competent defensively.

The signs are certainly encouraging. While his final 26 games are a small sample at this level, it’s suggestive of his offensive capabilities. He came here last year after posting an .887 OPS with 13 home runs and 57 RBI over 55 games in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, and a .935 OPS with 15 home runs and 86 RBIs the year prior. And, he’s also off to a good start this spring with five hits over his first four games.

If he can even resemble those numbers here, the Mets could be in a position to absorb some of those bad days on the other side of the ball, and complete another major part of the big puzzle.