Mets Season in Review: Wilmer Flores

With a packed infield going into the 2017 season, Wilmer Flores will need to change his game considerably to receive more playing time.

When Wilmer Flores plays consistently, he plays well. The only problem with that equation is that playing time will be limited.

With Asdrubal Cabrera, Neil Walker, Lucas Duda, David Wright, and Jose Reyes going into the 2017 season as the main guys for the infield, Flores will start the year off being a rotational player.

We saw, however, in 2015 that when he’s used as a starter, Flores can handle himself. Setting a career-high in plate appearances and at-bats in 2015, how did he translate that same momentum for the 2016 season?

How He Fared in 2016

We saw some ups and downs in 2016 from Flores. Consistency is the big problem with pretty much any player because they need lots of at-bats to get in the swing of things.

Because of injuries and being used as a primary bench player compared to most of the 2015 season, Flores had 175 less plate appearances as well as 176 less at-bats in 2016.

In those limited at-bats compared to the 2015 season, Flores hit the same amount of home runs last year (16) as he did in 2015. He drew more walks in 2016 –- 23 compared to 19 — than he did in more at-bats in 2015. His BA, OPB, SLG, and OPS were all higher in 2016 — .267, .319, .469, .788 compared to .263, .295, .408, .703 in 2015.

While we saw some of Flores’ best offensive numbers last year, it was pretty refreshing to see them in limited playing time.

One day, he will make a very good everyday player.

Areas to Improve Upon

While it seems like an everyday occurring theme with the Mets, durability is his best area to improve upon.

When Flores is used on an everyday basis, he needs to stay healthy enough to earn those at-bats and plate appearances, especially on a team with a packed infield.

As for stats, we saw every other offensive category — except for runs batted in — move up for Flores in 2016.

One area that moved up as well was strikeouts. Through 176 less at-bats, Flores had 15 less strikeouts in 2016 — 48 compared to 63 — than he did in 2015. Obviously as your power numbers go up, so do your strikeouts. If he has the everyday player at-bats — around 600 — 100 strikeouts is a definite chance. Those numbers need to stay down.

Projected Role in 2017

The tricky situation for Flores next season is the playing time he will need to continue his career. We will see him come off the bench, as well as playing pretty much every single infield position at some point.

Being able to play multiple positions will help get Flores playing time. Injuries happen every season, so he will be the “next man up,” so to speak when that does happen.

The better Flores does in his pinch-hitting situations, the better his chance becomes to be used on an everyday basis, even if the Mets are alright on the injury front.

Contract Status and Trade Rumors

With a deal earning Flores $526,014 for next season, he will become a free agent in 2020, because of service.

Because of the excess of players New York has in the infield, as well as the age and experience of Flores, it wouldn’t shock me to see the Mets move him. That doesn’t mean it will happen, but if New York can get some immediate help, especially at the trade deadline, it wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary.

While a younger team might love to have Flores because he can play multiple positions, and could see him flourish with everyday playing time, you never know what can happen. We all know what happened last time Flores got “traded.”