The Mets bounced back from a deflating weekend sweep in Pittsburgh against the Pirates, with a convincing 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The decisive blow was a three-run shot by shortstop Wilmer Flores, a sixth inning blast that would put the Mets up for good in front of a great Memorial Day crowd at Citi Field.
“I’m doing what I am supposed to do,” Flores said. “Everyone knows what I can do and I know what I can do and you’ve just got to execute it.”
Flores now leads all major league shortstops with seven home runs. He also ranks 5th in RBI (19) , 5th in slugging percentage (.443), 5th in Isolated Power (.182) and has an astonishing 20.4 AB/HR ratio.
Flores is red hot right now and has hit in 11 of his last 12 games, going 13-46 (.282) with a double, three home runs and nine RBI over that span. He has a flair for driving in runs and five of his 14 career home runs have come with at least two men on base.
While we have seen some sporadic spotty defense from Flores this season, I think it’s important to give him a fair evaluation as a player by taking into account everything he brings to the table.
The 23-year old was handed the reigns at shortstop this year for several reasons. First off, Ruben Tejada had proven to be less than adequate with the bat and seemed to fill the role of a defensive replacement better.
Sandy Alderson never predicted that Flores would be in the running for a Gold Glove this season. However, he did believe in him enough offensively to hope that he would make up for his defensive shortcomings. I think it’s tough to be disappointed with his performance thus far.
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