Mets riding Flores’ hot streak as Reyes pushed to the bench

Wilmer Flores continues to generate offense and is now seeing his name in the lineup more at the expense of Jose Reyes.

One of the hottest bats in the Mets lineup has been utility man, Wilmer Flores. Now he’s slowly getting more playing time as he has overtaken Jose Reyes at third. Flores has started four of the last five games for the Mets after posting nine multi-hit games in May.

Flores is currently slashing .308/.333/.467 compared to Reyes who is at .191/.264/.309. It also should be noted that Reyes doesn’t have a hit in his last 16 at-bats so this is an easy call to make. However, let’s dig a little deeper as to how this has transpired.

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First, this is more on Reyes than it is Flores. Consider this: Reyes has pulled the ball more which has led to more ground balls. His ground ball percentage this season is at 40 percent, up from 35 last season according to Fangraphs. That only tells a small part of the story though. He’s hitting the fewest percentage of line drives in a single season since 2010. Those two factors have led to Reyes succumbing for the moment to Flores.

If you want to look at more data to compare the two, consider that both Flores and Reyes are below MLB average when it comes to exit velocity. In fact, there isn’t a whole lot of overall difference in contact. The difference is Reyes has regressed to this point.

The biggest key though is that Flores is proving for the moment he can hit right-handed pitchers better. He’s batting a respectable .275 against righties, which is something we haven’t seen from the 25-year old in the past couple of years. As long as this trend continues then Flores should continue to see more consistent playing time.

Defensively, neither at this point would be confused with being elite. However, in advanced metrics, Flores is the slightly better defender accounting for more defensive runs saved and a better defensive WAR than Reyes. Their fielding percentages are near identical (Flores-.969, Reyes-.968).

Flores is rightfully being rewarded for his hot streak.  He has shown the willingness and ability to play multiple positions in the field and that has been his value. Now he has an open door with Reyes continuing to struggle at the plate.

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Whether Flores keeps a hold going forward remains to be seen, but the Mets are riding the wave however long it lasts.