Wilmer Flores Is Top Dog in Mets’ Shortstop Competition

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training this past week and position players reporting this upcoming week, position battles will be in full swing. Although the Mets are set at 7 out of 8 positions in the field, the issue as to who starts at shortstop on Opening Day will be highly scrutinized.

Incumbent Opening Day starter Ruben Tejada and rookie Wilmer Flores are the contenders for that spot and the two young shortstops couldn’t be more different. Flores is a hot-hitting infielder from the Mets’ top rated farm system who is still developing defensively after recently switching over to shortstop from third-base. Tejada is the superior defensive option with soft hands and above average lateral range, but very little power at the plate.

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With Daniel Murphy the unquestioned starter at second base, Tejada’s defensive prowess would be of value considering Murphy’s defensive limitations. The middle of the infield would be more vulnerable with Flores at shortstop and for a team already questionable at various positions, that doesn’t help Flores’ case.

However, Flores’ ceiling is astronomically higher than Tejada’s. Add in the fact that Murphy has been on the trade block since what seems like beginning of his tenure in the majors and the fact that the pitching staff that can churn out strikeouts at a high rate and you have some balancing factors to aid Flores.

The Met have already laid the groundwork to back up the decision to start Flores. Although there have been questions about whether Flores can stick at shortstop for the foreseeable future, General Manager Sandy Alderson believes he can. “In looking at Cal Ripken‘s career, you know he didn’t play shortstop until he got to the major leagues,” Alderson said, according to ESPN. Similar to Flores, Ripken was moved from shortstop to third base when he was signed and back to shortstop when he reached the Majors.

Despite the skepticism, Flores has showed improvement during the past season and the determination to prove Alderson correct. Although he doesn’t have the ideal quickness he does make routine plays within his reach. The hope for the Mets is that he can help lift their offense while turning those routine plays and not making the deflating mistakes that hurt their team.

The offensive potential Flores possesses makes that gamble worth it, especially with a low payroll and the potential to make a playoff run in 2015.

In his brief major league stint in 2014, Flores ranked 15^th in defensive runs saved, according to Fangraphs. He also hit 6 home runs and drove in 29 runs in 78 games while batting .251. Although unspectacular, those numbers would still be a major upgrade on Tejada, especially considering the fact that he hit .287 in his last 24 games. With excellent hand/eye coordination and gap power along with the fact that his strikeout rate was actually lower than during his time in Triple-A, the Mets have to be encouraged with his progress.

There’s no reason that Flores can’t be a solid source of RBIs from the number three spot in the lineup. Triple-A Manager Wally Backman hit him in that spot during his last tenure in the minors and the results were as outstanding as the Mets could have hoped for. Backman isn’t surprised with the doubt but addressed it by saying (to the New York Daily News) “I hit him third this year and I had a few guys say, ‘You’re hitting him third?’ I said, ‘Just wait,’ and he drove in a ton of big runs. He just has a way of getting the job done in those situations. Keith was like that. The bigger the situation the better.”

Those last six words may be most important in a market that knows the winning in the playoffs is what signifies the value and caliber of a player in New York. The numbers help Backman’s claim as Flores had 57 RBIs in 55 games in Las Vegas in 2014 and 86 RBIs in 107 games in Triple-A in 2013. Of course, Vegas is known as a venue beneficial to hitters, but it’s clear he has a propensity for producing extra-base hits in big moments. His .360+ OBP across two seasons in Triple-A and over .200 Isolated Power are impressive for any middle infielder and the dimensions of Citi Field could yield high doubles numbers for the young shortstop.

Whether Flores can continue drive the ball into the gaps in the Majors in unclear, but he’ll get the chance to bolster his case when the Mets report to Spring Training in Port St. Lucie. If he doesn’t the Mets will be on the market for a starting shortstop, but if he does, New York may have the shortstop of the future they’ve been searching for during the last half decade. If he can bat .265 with 15 home runs, 65 RBIs, and .720 OPS, while being average on the defensive side of the field, the Mets will be more than happy with those results as a stepping stone for his development.

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