How He Became a Nat: Plucked away from the New York Mets in the Rule 5 Draft in 2006.
The Raw Numbers:
Games – 30
AVG - .209
WAR – (-)0.2
Key Stat: RBIs – 2. When Flores came on the scene as a Nat in 2007 he was never an offensive juggernaut. But what he did do well was come up with timely hits with runners on base, particularly in scoring position. In 22 ABs with runners in scoring position Flores had 2 hits and 1 RBI to go along with 9 Ks. With runners on base in general he was 4-39 with 1 RBI and 16 Ks. In his rookie year he hit almost .200 points higher with RISP, including .292 with RISP and 2 outs, and .282 in games that were “Late & Close”.
Best Game: Sept 3 vs. the very same team that left him unprotected in 2006, the New York Mets. He went 3-4 with a 2B, a run and an RBI. He sparked the 9th inning rally with a deep drive to left and was lifted for pinch-runner Brian Bixler, who scored along with Jonny Gomes on a walk off Ryan Zimmerman single.
Worst Game: August 28 vs. the Reds. Over 14 innings Flores managed 1 hit (basically a swinging bunt) in 6 ABs, while striking out 3 times. He left 3 runners on base including the tying run in the top of the 14th.
CapBall Grade: C-. The body of work for the season is barely D worthy. He was nonexistent at the plate and while his defense was solid, he was simply outplayed by Wilson Ramos and now must question his role in the organization with Derek Norris tearing it up in the Arizona Fall League. That being said, he showed a tremendous amount of stick-to-itiveness in battling back from a very serious injury to play in the Bigs for the first time in almost 2 years. So we bumped him up a letter grade.
2012 Nats Status: Flores is arbitration eligible and while he might get a raise, it will be a modest one at best. Mike Rizzo thinks he is a suitable back-up option for Wilson Ramos, but if Jesus has a better than average Spring Training, Rizzo will not hesitate to flip him for almost anything.
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