Here’s the latest on Wilmer Flores who tells Joe Trezza of MLB.com how he felt about about not playing in back to back games in an attempt to have him clear his head.
“It’s tough, but you got to get through it. This is how you’re going to learn, from these mistakes,” said Flores. “We’re all professionals, but we’re humans, too. You just have to shake it off.”
Flores, 23, has seven errors through 21 games which is tied for third most in the Majors. He is also battling a 2-for-20 slump, which Terry Collins attributes to him dwelling on the defensive miscues. The Mets manager is urging patience.
“He’s had a couple of bad games, and everybody wants to write him off,” said Collins. “You have to give him a legitimate chance.”
Meanwhile Marc Carig of Newsday points out a few things.
1. According to Inside Edge data on FanGraphs.com, Flores was tied for second to last among 29 qualifying shortstops in making the routine play. Five of his errors are from throwing, which hadn’t been an issue in the past. “It was a glaring issue in spring training,” a scout said. “Plenty of arm strength, but he is not accurate.”
3. The Mets appear ready to stick with Flores, who is not in immediate danger of losing his spot. The internal expectation remains that he will get four to six weeks to pick up his production and demonstrate that he can cut down on the errors.
Right now 3-4 weeks seems like an eternity to me. Ultimately, it’s difficult to say how this whole thing turns out.
It’s obvious that the Mets plan to stick with Flores for the foreseeable future, but I’m worried about how this could escalate whenever David Wright comes back. That’s when the middle infield reverts back to Flores and Daniel Murphy.
