I love those interludes when a given Met can do no wrong. Wilmer Flores [1] is in smack in the midst of one of them right now. It is his golden hour.
Nobody’s calling him a stiff after the last two games against the Phillies. I still think he looks stiff in the field, but has he done anything fatal with his glove in these last 36 hours? I haven’t noticed it. I’ve noticed the three-run homer that won Monday’s game, the sac fly that tied Tuesday’s game in the eighth and the line drive that won Tuesday’s game in the tenth [2].
Plus there’s Mark Simon writing up data and observation that says you could do worse for a defensive shortstop [3], which, let’s face it, is about as Andreltonian a scouting report as you’ll ever get on this kid.
It’s the sunny side of the street, no clouds allowed, when you’re on a winning streak, even a tiny winning streak of the two-game variety. Let us hail Wilmer’s minimally competent glove! Let us toast Wilmer’s fiery bat! Let us be very nice to that very nice young man [4]!
And let us remember Jacob deGrom [5], who was about as unbeatable as unbeatable could be at Citi Field, which is his thing. The only detriment that can do deGrom in at home is the hook and the pen. I saw it for myself [6] last September. I saw it again on TV tonight. I know we’re preserve arms for the future, and I don’t disagree with the impulse, but somehow you knew the unburied Phillies would kick up just enough dirt to no-decision deGrom once he exited in the eighth.
Thankfully the Phillies are the Phillies and Jeurys Familia [7] isn’t the rest of the relievers and Wilmer Flores…we’re thankful for Wilmer Flores?
Sure, why not?
A tip of the walkoff cap, too, to Charles Prince and his admonition from our brief late-game conversation.
Dad from hospital: “How’s the game going?”
Me: “They’re losing.”
Dad: “Tell the Mets to buck up.”
Shortly thereafter, tie score. Not long after that, a friend whose father is in the midst of a similar battle offered hope that “their shared trajectories resemble a frozen rope off of Wilmer Flores’s bat”. That was after Wilmer’s sac fly tied it but before Wilmer’s line drive won it. Once that happened, we agreed we wanted to chip in and send Dr. Flores to medical school.
He’s making us all feel better.