Wilmer Flores Gets His Birthday Wish

Wilmer Flores will finally get his chance to play for the New York Mets. It still seems odd that a team so devoid of talent would wait so long to promote a prospect that in the minors has hit .321 with 15 home runs and 89 RBI, especially when he can fill the hole left by an injury to our best player, David Wright. This should have happened immediately, but at least Flores gets to debut on his birthday. That's quite a present for a 22-year old whom we have always had high hopes for.

I'm sure many of the readers on this site know the story of Flores. A kid from Venezuela signed as an international free agent in 2007 at the age of 16 who plied his trade at shortstop. He has grown both literally and figuratively, though probably more of the former. His range started to diminish as he ascended the minor league system, playing second base as a starter in the 2009 Futures game and finally playing the corner infield positions as recently as this year. The knock has always been his defensive deficiencies, as shown by his 9 errors at secodn base this year, but man can this kid hit.

Over the last two seasons in the minors, Wilmer Flores has been the lone bat to truly stand out and separate himself from the others. He hit .300 splitting time between St. Lucie and Binghamtom last year to go along with 18 homers and 75 RBI. This year, he has improved on those numbers and his on-base has has shown a slight uptick this year at .357 on the year. His slugging percentage of .536 would put him atop the list of Mets players this year, ahead of David Wright. This is not to say that Flores is better than David or even that his numbers are entirely sustainable on his newest baseball endeavor, but numbers don't lie. Put this kid in your lineup and you know that he is going to produce quality at bats with great RBI potential. He is definitely part of the solution to Terry Collins' "We don't score runs" argument.

Flores is a welcome addition to the roster, but what will his fate be when injured David Wright returns? There is obviously no way on earth that he stays at third and I can't see a platoon at second base because it doesn't really solve the problem of strengthening the lineup. A platoon at first base seems the most likely option, but I think he should get starts consistently just to see what he can do at the major league level. We know that Ike Davis not going to turn his season around and there leaves little reasoning to start the lefty over Flores, especially if he plays well. It might make sense to use Davis as a defensive replacement later in games, but Ike has made some garish plays that make you wonder where his head is.

When the rosters expand, this team and the season will turn into an extended audition. Wilmer Flores simply has a head start. He has the talent to stick on this roster and the opportunity to make his mark to perhaps start next year as the Opening Day first baseman of the future. We are all looking ahead, but Wilmer Flores is looking toward today. Happy Birthday, and best of luck.