New York Mets Series Preview vs. Milwaukee Brewers June 23rd-25th
When Is Enough, Enough?
Jun 17, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Mets shortstop
Wilmer Flores(4) dives but can
The Mets plan coming into the season was to hope their middle infield of Wilmer Flores and Daniel Murphy hit enough to make up for their defensive shortcomings. That is proving to be a poor strategy, as Murphy is on the DL currently and mirade of other injuries have put more pressure on Flores than originally planned, resulting in some ugly finishes for the Mets.
This past weekend alone, their defense cost them against the Braves. It is not the first time this has happened, as the defensive shortcomings of Flores are beginning to catch up with the Mets. There is really no reason that he should be the shortstop still, especially since Ruben Tejada is basically an everyday player. Why not move Tejada to his natural position of shortstop to shore the Mets up a little up the middle?
Flores’ bat has helped the games win a couple of games, but not enough for what his glove is costing them. Unfortunately for the Mets, they do not really have many other options to replace him with. If Tejada takes over at shortstop, who then plays third base?
Could Flores handle the hot corner for the time being, because the Mets really cannot afford to take him out of their lineup as he leads the team in home runs and RBI. At this point in time, that is not something the Mets can afford to lose as no one other than Lucas Duda is really giving them any production in the lineup.
But, you will not know unless you try. Could this be the series, against what is seemingly an inferior opponent, we see Terry Collins change things up a bit and try shoring up the Mets defense to help win games? If the defense, and some decision by Collins himself over the weekend weren’t so poor, the panic level would not be where it is right now with the Mets.
Next: Swan Song For Niese?