WALKOFF TO A CONTENDER
Mets would be wise to send clutch Flores to team with eye on postseason
Wilmer Flores has done this enough times now that perhaps it would behoove some contending team to actually offer the Mets a decent prospect or two for Walkoff Wilmer ahead of the upcoming trade deadline.
Flores came up as a pinchhitter in the 10th inning on Monday and promptly did what he does best, ripping a home run off the left-field foul pole to end the Mets’ 4-3 win in the opener of a doubleheader split against the Phillies at Citi Field, while also establishing the record for the most game-ending RBI in franchise history.
What started out as the ultimate feel-good story when Flores had cried on the field after nearly getting traded to Milwaukee just ahead of the 2015 trade deadline – and then clubbing a game-winning home run two days later – has developed into something of a cottage industry for the 26year-old utility man.
Even if he doesn’t have a true defensive position, it’s hard to argue with his repeated results late in games.
“I mean, it’s almost getting to a point where you expect it,” Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler said. “When the game is on the line, that’s the guy you want to have up there. Doing a nice job. He’s hot right now. Hopefully he continues.
“But like I said, it’s almost to a point where it’s a given he’s going to walk it off.”
The fourth such blast of Flores’ career – and second this season - tied him with Cleon Jones, Chris Jones, Kevin McReynolds and Mike Piazza in team annals. His 10 game-ending RBI move him ahead of David Wright for the club record. All of them have come since 2014, representing the most in the majors over that span. No other player has more than seven walk-off RBI in that time.
“It doesn’t get old,” Flores said after adding an RBI double and the Mets’ only two hits in a 3-1 loss in the nightcap. “It’s always good to celebrate with your teammates when you win a ballgame.”
Flores often has expressed his desire to stay with the Mets, dating back to his neartrade and the Mets’ storybook run to the 2015 World Series. And his popularity and production might still make his value higher with them than it could be anywhere else.
But in the throes of a wretchedly disappointing season for the team, there shouldn’t be any untouchables ahead of the July 31 non-waiver deadline. The Mets’ newly installed threeheaded front office - after GM Sandy Alderson stepped away last month for medical reasons - even has listened on co-aces Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.
While he still really hasn’t found a true defensive position and is ideally a better fit as a DH, Flores’ penchant for the dramatic, even off of the bench and particularly against left-handed pitching, has to have some value across baseball, doesn’t it?
Late-game heroics legitimately has now become Flores’ identifier, even more so than the theme from “Friends” as his walk-up music.
“I think a lot of people have said that. I guess he’s been very successful in the past about it,” Mickey Callaway said between games. “Some guys just step up in those situations. It’s good to have him on the bench.”
Indeed, Flores was in the lineup for the nightcap at second base, only his second start at that position this season, in addition to 25 at first base and five at third, where he conceivably could see additional starts with Todd Frazier landing again on the disabled list. Flores was on the bench for the opener, with Dom Smith starting at first, until the 10th, when he clocked a 3-1 pitch from reliever Victor Arano down the line and about halfway up the left-field foul pole.
“I can’t tell you why. All I know is that I got in a good hitter’s count and I got the pitch that I was looking for,” Flores said. “This time I was thinking about a walkoff, because I know that everybody was.”
Flores also joked that he “definitely” was happy he hadn’t been ruled hit on the arm by Arano’s previous pitch, which Callaway had appealed before losing the video review.
“I’m glad Flo got a chance to hit in that situation,” Callaway said. “Tonight, big situation again, and he put another good swing on probably a pitch that wasn’t executed and he made them pay.”
Just as contending teams shouldn’t be shy about paying up now for Walkoff Wilmer.