{"id":24234,"date":"2019-08-20T03:21:58","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T07:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=24234"},"modified":"2019-08-20T03:21:58","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T07:21:58","slug":"wilmer-flores-arizona-diamondbacks-on-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/08\/20\/wilmer-flores-arizona-diamondbacks-on-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilmer Flores of the Arizona Diamondbacks Is on Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wilmer Flores Is on Fire<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not much went right for the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> in their four-game home series against the division rival San Francisco Giants<\/a> this past Thursday through Sunday. Arizona had a tremendous opportunity to heat up the Wild Card race, but instead, they lost three out of four, falling to 62-63 on the season. When the series ended, they were four and a half games behind. There was one bright spot from that series, though \u2013 Wilmer Flores<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Flores has had a tremendous August, even though he\u2019s only started seven of the 15 games he’s played in. In that span of time, he has gone 16 for 35 at the plate \u2013 a .457 batting average \u2013 with two doubles, four home runs, seven RBI, two walks, four strikeouts, and eight runs scored.<\/p>\n

The Giants Series<\/strong><\/h3>\n

However, the series against the Giants was insane. In that four-game span, he went 8 for 14 \u2013 a .571 average \u2013 with a double, three home runs, four RBI, a walk, four runs scored, and no strikeouts. Before the Giants series, his batting average for the season was .291. At the end of the series, it was .312. That one series raised his average by 21 points.<\/p>\n

In Saturday night\u2019s 11-6 loss \u2013 one that saw Giants center fielder Kevin Pillar<\/a><\/strong> have a 5-for-5 game and Giants first baseman Brandon Belt<\/a><\/strong> drive in six runs \u2013 Flores went 4 for 5. His only out came in the ninth, on a deep fly to left, but he still hit the ball hard. On Friday, when he entered in the sixth inning, he hit two home runs in three at-bats. On Sunday \u2013 the only Diamondbacks win of the series \u2013 he had two hits in five at-bats, with one hit being a home run.<\/p>\n

The last game of the series in Denver against the Colorado Rockies<\/a> last Wednesday \u2013 one that got away from the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the ninth \u2013 was a sign of things to come. In that game, he went 3 for 4 with a homer and two RBI. That means that over the last five games, he went 11 for 18 (a .611 average!) and raised his season average from .280 to .312 \u2013 32 points.<\/p>\n

Wilmer Flores vs. Each Pitcher<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This raises the question of why he\u2019s been so successful. Is it the pitchers he\u2019s facing? In the Colorado game, his first three at-bats came against Kyle Freeland<\/a><\/strong>. Before that game, Flores had faced him nine times. Last year, while still with the New York Mets<\/a>, Flores went 0 for 4 against him with two walks. This year, with the Diamondbacks, he had faced Freeland three times \u2013 all on May 4th in Denver. There, he singled to left, hit an RBI double to right, and popped to second. In Wednesday\u2019s game against Freeland, he hit an RBI single to center, popped to short, and homered down the left field line.<\/p>\n

The fourth at-bat in that game came against Wade Davis<\/a><\/strong>. Flores had only seen Davis twice before, in the 2015 World Series when Davis pitched for the Kansas City Royals<\/a>. His first at-bat against Davis came in the bottom of the eighth of Game Four. He struck out swinging. The other came in Game Five, when Flores made the last out of the entire Series on a called strikeout. In Wednesday\u2019s game, Flores singled to left.<\/p>\n

Vs. Giants Pitchers<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Thursday night, he faced Dereck Rodriguez<\/a><\/strong> and Sam Coonrod<\/a><\/strong>, both for the first time in his career. \u00a0He walked and grounded to short, respectively. On Friday, he faced Fernando Abad<\/a><\/strong>, Tony Watson<\/a><\/strong>, and Will Smith<\/a><\/strong>. He grounded into a fielder\u2019s choice and then hit two home runs, respectively. That was only the second time he had seen Abad, and he did not get a hit either time. His at-bats against Watson and Smith were the fourth time he had seen each pitcher, and both of those hits were his first career hits against them.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, he faced Logan Webb<\/a><\/strong> (who was making his Major League debut), Andrew Suarez<\/a><\/strong>, and Jandel Gustave<\/a><\/strong>. He faced Webb thrice, hitting a double and two singles. He also singled off Suarez but flied to left against Gustave. Of those three, the only one he had seen before was Suarez, and this hit was his first against him in four tries.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, he faced Madison Bumgarner<\/a><\/strong>, along with Abad and Coonrod. He was hitless against the latter two, facing each once. Against Bumgarner, however, he went 2 for 3 with a grounder to short, a single to right, and a home run to left. Those were his 19th, 20th, and 21st plate appearances against Bumgarner, and they made him 5 for 20 overall against Bumgarner with two doubles, a homer, one walk, and no strikeouts. In his career, he has only faced Gio Gonzalez<\/a><\/strong> and Julio Teheran<\/a><\/strong> more times than he has faced Bumgarner.<\/p>\n

Outlook<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Wilmer Flores has not changed his stance or swing mechanics. Of the pitchers he faced, he had only had prior success against Bumgarner. Four of those pitchers were guys he was seeing for the first time. Sometimes hot streaks have no explanation. This seems to be one of them. Baseball has taught us many things over the years, and one is to respect hot streaks. Don\u2019t question them or expect them to last forever \u2013 just enjoy them while they last.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>