With David Wright possibly shelved for the rest of this season after undergoing neck surgery, there has been talk of the New York Mets perhaps getting a third baseman. But as of now, manager Terry Collins said he will stick with Wilmer Flores, who has been the team’s best hitter over the last two weeks.
Flores has played regularly at third base since Wright went on the DL at the end of May and since June 1, he is batting .333 (16-for-48) with a .400 on-base percentage and .525 slugging. In that span he’s collected three doubles, two home runs and eight RBI while drawing five walks.
Still only 24, Flores made a fantastic defensive play on Sunday, catching a Jace Peterson foul pop up and holding on even while toppling on the tarp near the stands down the left-field line.
The Mets will continue to monitor the third-base market for a potential replacement for Wright but Collins is determined to bring some stability to the position and keep giving Flores opportunities.
“I know in the beginning, he was probably disappointed he wasn’t playing more,” said the Mets skipper. “But I’m not too sure bouncing around the infield didn’t affect him a little bit, too, so I’m going to leave him where he’s at.”
Kelly Johnson and Matt Reynolds will back up the other infield positions.
“That’s one of the benefits of having Kelly here,” Collins added. “We’ve got Matt who can certainly spell us at shortstop (and) we’ve got Kelly who can spell us at first and second, so I’m going to leave Flores where he’s at.”
