In the minds of most New York Mets’ fans, the hunt for Jose Reyes’ replacement — now four seasons after his uncontested free-agent departure — is still an on-going journey. Needless to say, current Mets’ shortstop Wilmer Flores’ performance through May is doing little to inspire fans to move on.
Despite a respectable park-adjusted 100 wRC+, Flores is currently hitting .238, while only having drawn five walks over 110 plate appearances.
And his defense? According to UZR/150, the 23-year-old’s 4.8 metric ranks 13th amongst all eligible shortstops. But then again, just three games ago, his UZR/150 sat at minus-8.5. Flores also made his 8th error in dramatic fashion on Thursday, handing the Chicago Cubs two runs.
In an off-season where the Mets’ greatest need was a shortstop, general manager Sandy Alderson’s decision to knight Wilmer Flores as the starter might retrospectively seem like, well, a mistake.
But perhaps Mets’ fans — and the baseball world — should cut Alderson and Flores some slack. Continue reading
