Wilmer Flores got the best early birthday gift ever last night. He went 1-for-5 last night with a double against the Memphis Cardinals in the 5-2 victory for Las Vegas, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Following the victory, Flores received the news he’s been waiting for since he put on a Kingsport Mets uniform back in 2008: he was heading for the big leagues.

It’s been a long road for the now 22-year-old Flores. It sounds funny saying it’s been a long time coming for Wilmer, but like Jenrry Mejia, Flores has been around for so long, we tend to forget how young he actually is. With David Wright on the disabled list with a strained hamstring, the infielder will be able to play his natural position of third base until the Captain returns to active duty.

It hasn’t been happening here at MMN, but Flores has been getting a little disrespected over the last couple of years. From 2009 to 2011, he appeared in the top-100 prospects in Baseball America, but hasn’t sniffed that list since. He’s continually ranked in the top-10 Mets prospects and was most recently included in MLB.com’s top-10 second base prospects, but his defense always get criticized.

I understand the issues with his defense, but he’s only 22! I want to see what this kid can do at the big league level before we judge him. From what I hear, he’s a hard worker and has improved at second base since the beginning of 2013. If the front office didn’t believe it was time to promote him, they wouldn’t have done it. He was hitting .321/.357/.531 with 15 home runs and 86 RBIs for Las Vegas. Those numbers may be inflated from the Pacific Coast League, but his career minors triple slash is .290/.331/.430 in six seasons. Starting his professional career at the tender age of 16, those are impressive numbers.

As we’ve mentioned multiple times, this season is vitally important to what happens to the Mets in 2014. Their solid month of July gave us a glimmer of hope for some sort of improbable playoff run, but most importantly, we need to find out who is part of the future, and who isn’t. With Wright sidelined, this is the perfect opportunity to let Flores get acclimated to the big leagues while playing his natural position.

While he could eventually get sent back down to the minors, I think this is the last stop for Wilmer. By the time Wright comes back, it will be September and rosters will be expanded, allowing him to stick around. I have faith that Flores will show what he’s capable of in Flushing, as long as Terry Collins pencils him into the lineup every night. Josh Satin and Justin Turner could certainly use more at-bats, but it’s Flores that truly matters to the Mets in the long-term, so he needs the playing time more than anyone.

I suppose Sandy Alderson read the fantastic article by John Bernhardt yesterday regarding what to do with the lineup and roster the rest of the season…now let’s see what this kid can do!