It is Time to Play Wilmer Flores Everyday

As we know, the Mets have been dealt a bad hand regarding the health of their core players. Yoenis Cespedes, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Jeurys Familia headline the group of Mets that are currently on the disabled list, and for a team that is already 11.5 GB behind the Washington Nationals in the division race, hope may be slowly dwindling down. Some have called for Terry Collins’ head, while others petition for the removal of Matt Harvey from the starting rotation. For the Mets, an organization that is typically conservative with shaking up their coach and player personnel, it would be unreasonable to expect any impactful moves in the near future. One thing that they can do, and have already begun to test out, however, has been the idea of making Wilmer Flores the full-time third baseman.

 

People know the story about Flores. On July 29, 2015, rumors spread all over social media that he, along with Zack Wheeler, had been traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Carlos Gomez. Despite the buzz, Flores remained in the game against the San Diego Padres, and was visibly emotional, presumably due to his desire to stay in New York. After the game, GM Sandy Alderson spoke to reporters and informed them that any potential trade had fallen off the table. Flores then became an immediate fan favorite as a result of his obvious passion to remain with the Mets franchise.

Flores poured his heart out on that rainy night in Flushing, and it is now time for the Mets to finally reward him by giving him the starting third base job.

As hard as it is to admit, David Wright’s playing days are likely over. The 34-year old has been severely limited to just 75 games in the past two seasons, and the Mets would be wise to been exploring their options regarding a potential buy-out. After Wright’s latest setback in spring training, New York elected to allow Jose Reyes, a fellow fan favorite, to continue his comeback tour by letting him start at third base to open the season. However, Reyes had a dreadful beginning to the season, going 7-67 (.104) with 0 RBI in the first 19 games. The poor performance forced the Mets hand to involve more of their role players, such as Flores and even T.J Rivera.

While it is always smarter to turn to the more youthful player, moving Flores as a full-time player would not just be about the future. The truth of the matter is he is capable of great things when playing on a consistent basis, evident by his 2015 season. That year, .263/.295/.408 with 16 HR and 59 RBI, and helped the Mets reach their first World Series since 2000. If you are looking for a more recent example, let’s look at his statistics from this past May.

Last month, which had been when he saw a considerable uptick in playing time, Flores led the National League with a .379 average, hit one home run and collected 11 RBI. Perhaps most importantly, the 25-year old began to handle right handed pitching, which had previously been his Achilles heel. He is currently hitting .302/.330/.448 against righties in 2017, and a monstrous .370/.393/.630 against southpaws. As a .261 career hitter, it would be tough to imagine him keeping up this pace for the remainder of the season, but it is promising nonetheless.

Right now, the Mets need to do everything they can to win games, and Flores’ hot streak has provided an immediate jolt to an otherwise deprived lineup. While Reyes may be the once-established veteran, it is clearly better for Collins to continue to ride the hot hand and possibly see what the franchise truly has in Flores moving forward. With the possible retirement of David Wright and free agency departure from Jose Reyes around the corner, the Mets do not want to be caught with their pants down when the third base dilemma resurfaces this winter.