Following his 22nd birthday and MLB debut on Tuesday, Wilmer Flores said he was a little bit too excited on the field. He made an error and went 0-for-4 in the Mets’ victory over the Rockies. Last night, he looked a lot more relaxed, which led to him getting his first two big league hits, along with his first three RBIs. Hopefully, these will be the first of many we see from Wilmer while he dons the Orange and Blue.
I’m happy he was able to get his first hit reasonably soon; there’s enough pressure to perform in the big leagues as a rookie, let alone the added pressure of trying to get that first hit. He was able to line a single back through the box in his first at-bat last night, coming in the second inning. What I liked about his first hit was that he’s clearly not trying to do too much. Flores got a pitch on the inner half of the plate, and put a wonderful looking inside-out swing on it, resulting in a line drive to the outfield. That’s refreshing to see instead of him clearing his hips and trying to launch it past the Party City Deck. He came around to score on an Omar Quintanilla single, and as we all know, that was all Matt Harvey would need last night in his first career complete game shutout.
I was most impressed with Wilmer’s last at-bat, coming in the eighth inning. Up 2-0, the Mets were trying to give Harvey more of a cushion before he took the mound in the top of the ninth. Ike Davis came up with two outs and two on, but Colorado intentionally walked him in favor of the fresh-faced rookie.
So, there he is, coming up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, looking to get some insurance for his team’s ace. In all reality, it didn’t seem like Harvey would need the extra runs, but they never hurt. Here’s this 22-year-old kid trying to make the opposition pay by intentionally walking to get to him, and he’s doing it under the bright lights in front of the home crowd on his second day in the big leagues.
He responded with a liner down the left field line, clearing the bases with his first extra base hit and RBIs of his big league career. Watching that unfold on television, it seemed as if the crowd was begging for it to happen so they could erupt. The atmosphere already seemed electric because it was Harvey day and he was on his A-game, and this put it into another gear.
Since Sandy Alderson was hired by the Wilpons to fix the mess they found themselves in, we’ve been hearing about the future. Times were tough, but we shouldn’t worry because the organization was building toward the future. It’s tough to rebuild in a place like New York; fans expect to win, whether you have inferior players on the roster or not. And, if they feel the players weren’t worth their time, they’d certainly let you know about it.
Finally, the future has arrived. Players like Juan Lagares, Zack Wheeler, and Matt Harvey are starting to re-energize this organization and fan base at the major league level. When Harvey secured the victory last night with the 27th out, I was already thinking about the headlines to every game recap:
Matt Harvey Dazzles with Complete Game Shutout with Wilmer Flores Providing Key Hits
Two or three years ago, we were hoping these kids in the minor leagues would give us a reason to cheer years down the road.
Now, that time has arrived, and I’m planning on enjoying every minute of it.
It was a great and exciting game all the way around. Nice to see Harvey get a complete game shut out and Flores do so well in only his second major league game.
Agreed..it was a great game all around to watch!
Flores is a big dude. Its hard to tell until he’s next to other guys on the field. He seems to have pretty good bat speed, but man does he stand far off the plate! It seems weird saying this but he looks kind of out of place in a full fledged Mets uniform because of how long he has been trolling the minors.
Haha I know what you’re saying; it’s weird to think the moment is finally here. His size is certainly deceiving.
I was also real surprised about how far he stands off the plate. I wonder if they’ll give him a nudge to move up a couple inches so he can cover the outside corner a little more consistently.
I agree with thinking they should give him that nudge on the plate. I also applaud them though for not immediately tinkering with him these first few games.