Jose’s pain is gain for hot Wilmer
For crying out loud, what was it going to take for Wilmer Flores to play more regularly for the Mets?
An injury to Jose Reyes figures to be the answer, at least in the short-term.
Reyes suffered a Grade 1 strain of the left intercostal muscle in the Mets’ first-game loss in Tuesday’s doubleheader and was sent to a local hospital for tests while the Mets gained a split with a 3-1 victory behind Bartolo Colon in Game 2.
“He was unavailable in the second game,” Terry Collins said, adding that the injury occurred in Reyes’ final at-bat of the 3-2 loss in the opener — a popup to end the eighth inning.
Reyes had started 16 consecutive games, mostly at third base, since rejoining the Mets on July 5 following a domestic-abuse suspension and his subsequent release by Colorado. The former AllStar is batting .239 with three homers and eight RBI following his 1-for-5 showing in Tuesday’s first game.
Flores made his first start since Friday in the Game 2 and notched three more hits in four trips — two against St. Louis lefty Jaime Garcia. Despite sporadic playing time since Reyes’ arrival, Flores is batting .360 with seven homers, 13 RBI and a 1.160 OPS in just 45 at-bats in July.
“He’s done a great job. I tell you, he is absolutely killing left-handed pitching,” Collins said. “And when you’re doing that, you’re going to get a lot of playing time, especially against left-handers. And right now, obviously with Jose out for a couple of days, he’s gonna have to hold down third base.”
Flores remains among the most popular Mets with fans based on his performance last year following his near-trade to Milwaukee and the corresponding crying incident on the field before the 2015 trade deadline. He adjusted poorly to a more limited role to start this season but started hitting consistently with increased playing time due to injuries to David Wright and Lucas Duda, before a return to the utility role in recent weeks.
“I’m just swinging at good pitches I think,” Flores said. “I’ve said it before, I’ve been feeling good all year, maybe I had a couple of weeks where it wasn’t really there. But I’ve been getting good pitches and driving the ball.
“I come here every day ready to play. It doesn’t matter what the lineup is going to be, I will be ready to play.”