After down year, 2022 SF Giants Willie Mac Award winner might still have something left in the tank

2022 SF Giants Willie Mac Award winner Wilmer Flores undeniably had a down year in 2024. After a healthy offseason, Flores is showing he might still have something left in the tank and could even have a stable role with the club in 2025.

After down year, 2022 SF Giants Willie Mac Award winner might still have something left in the tank

Many Giants fans are ready to move in a different direction after Flores' down year at the plate. I get it. I think the problem with Flores, to some degree, is the same issue many fans have with Mike Yastrzemski. He offers a relatively low ceiling on a roster that needs more than that.

Flores is a proven and consistent hitter. His biggest competition right now is Jerar Encarnación.
Encarnación has been one of the best Giants hitters in camp, slashing .333/.327/.604 with seven doubles, two home runs, and 14 RBI in 48 at-bats. The right-handed bat has hit his way onto the Opening Day roster.

I do not put much weight into spring training stats at all. That being said, there are a few trends that remain concerning with Encarnación. The first is that he has not worked a walk this spring. This is after he tallied just five walks in 119 plate appearances last year. It is very difficult to be a productive hitter with a sub-.300 on-base percentage. You have to hit a lot of home runs, which the right-handed bat certainly has the power to do.

That brings me to the second concern. Encarnación's bat path is still generating a ground ball rate above 50 percent, so while he has tremendous raw power, it plays down due to a bat path that does not get the ball in the air enough.

Encarnación will have a role with the Giants to start the year. He should see time at DH, first base, and even left field. Flores' role is a little cloudier at the moment, as he plays many of the same positions as Encarnación. Ideally, the Giants would prefer to have neither player appear at any position other than first base or DH.

However, LaMonte Wade Jr. will see the bulk of the playing time at first base. So, DH is the best avenue to playing time for Flores and Encarnación. While Encarnación has had an impressive spring, I would not count out Flores just yet.

The veteran hitter has quietly put together a solid spring as well, registering a .265/.333/.529 line with two home runs and five RBI in 34 at-bats. This is a promising sign given that he struggled to the tune of a .595 OPS with four home runs and 26 RBI in 242 plate appearances last year while battling a knee ailment. Flores underwent a season-ending knee procedure to correct the issue.

The 33-year-old hitter is just a year removed from posting an .863 OPS with 23 home runs and 60 RBI in 454 plate appearances. He set a career-high in both home runs and OPS that season.

Flores has been a reliable and productive bat for much of his Giants tenure. While he is facing an uphill battle this spring in terms of playing time, he is showing that he can still hit. Whether that carries into the season remains to be seen, but that is the case with just about any hitter.