Terry Collins strongly hinted that Wilmer Flores seems destined for a Triple-A start unless he can work his way into an infield position, reported ESPN’s Adam Rubin. Something that doesn’t seem likely.

I think with what we have on the infield — you know what? — if he’s not going to get a lot of a playing time, he’s got to go play at his age,” Collins said to Rubin. “Because the ceiling on his bat is too high. He’s got to go get at-bats.”

Rubin also shares that Collins said it’s unlikely Flores sees much time at first base during spring training due to the presence of Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Brandon Allen, Josh Satin,Zach Lutz and Matt Clark.

There are not many options left on the table for Flores. The odds are stacked up against him and the only way that he sticks is if he has a tremendous spring and earns the right to play shortstop, but the minds that make that decision may already have him penciled in to go down to Triple A and continue his progress.  And the idea may not be a bad one, especially if he puts the time in at short and comes back stronger defensively.

(Photo Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa)