#86 Wilmer Flores

Today, I’m following up a rookie with another. This time we’re going all the way back to the the east coast.

#86 Wilmer Flores

First impression of what’s going on: This is kind of a generic shot of a swinging batter but I don’t know that you can expect more than that for a rookie card. Sure, you might get lucky like we did yesterday with Michael Choice, but I think he was an outlier. There are probably only a couple dozens shots to choose from for most rookies. The crop is too tight but Flores does have a few niches at first glance.

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 08: Wilmer Flores #4 of the New York Mets in action against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on August 8, 2013 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Mets defeated the Rockies 2-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

 The Reality of the Photo: Definitely too tight of a crop. I can’t believe the Rockies are making another appearance, in spirit, if not on the actual card. The caption isn’t much help in identifying a particular pitch or even at-bat so let’s go to the BOXSCORE and see what we can find out.

A win is a win, whether you score two or twelve. Let’s see if the rookie had a hand in it.

No hits, but Flores did draw a walk and drive in a run. Fielder’s choice? Or maybe his walk was of the bases loaded variety?

He drew his walk in the bottom of the second, but nothing came of it.

In the fourth he did come up with the bases loaded but as I said, his walk already happened. This time, it sounds like he hit a dribbler to shortstop and the only play was for Flores at first, but allowing Daniel Murphy to score from third.

I wonder if, with no outs and the bases loaded, the infield was playing back for double play depth or in, for a play at the plate. My guess would be, that early in the game, play for the double play, sacrificing a run but putting a damper on an even bigger inning. If they were playing back, that could be the reason why the only play was at first on the dribbler.

This run tied the game at 1 apiece, which was followed by the game winning sacrifice fly by former Cub Anthony Recker. Had Flores grounded into a double play, the sac fly would have been an inning ending out.

The Mets were wearing their home alternates that day, as the regular home uniform involves pinstripes.

Looking a little closer, we can see the All-Star patch because the Mets hosted the game in 2013.

Better View 

And a little more subtle than that, we get a glimpse of an Under Armour logo from Flores’ undershirt on his elbow, for some Free Advertising.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Wilmer tied a Mets record with 9 RBI in his first six MLB games.

First, I want to go off on a tangent about the plurality of Runs Batted In. I think they are commonly referred to as RBIs even though that would translate to Runs Batted Ins. Maybe they should be RsBI, but that sounds ridiculous. So even though RBI, as used by Topps in the Rookie Fact, seems odd, it is technically correct. Weird.

Back to the fact at hand. Among Flores’ 9 RBI, he had a pair of 3 RBI games and one in at least five of the six games. Not to mention that the Mets as a team went 5-1 in that stretch. Good way to start a career.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #86

Player Name: Wilmer Flores

Team: New York Mets

Position: Shortstop

Game Date: August 8, 2013

Opponent: Colorado Rockies

Stadium: Citi Field

Division: National League East

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 2-1, Mets over Rockies, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: Yes, alternate

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Birthdate: 8/6/1991

Birthplace: Venezuela

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Jim McIsaac

Niche collections this card could fit into: Alternate Jersey, Free Advertising, Patch, Rookie Card

My Grade: This one hits a lot of the same niches as yesterday’s A+ rookie, but somehow it still falls a little flat. Maybe if the crop wasn’t so tight or if Flores had a bigger day at the plate. I’m still going to give this card a B though.

Usually I save the “what could have been” photos for cards with failing grades, but when looking for the source photo, I saw two photos that would have put Flores into “no doubter” A+ status. Both are perfectly timed photos that shine a good light on Flores and they’re both from the same game on September 15, 2013. Maybe that was a little too late in the season to get these made on time.

Lesson learned for the Marlins. Don't try to get to third if Flores is guarding it!

#266 Zack Wheeler

#266 Zack Wheeler

First impression of what’s going on: Like earlier with the Ernesto Frieri of the Angels, I think Wheeler is sporting an alternate jersey. And like most of the cards this year so far, cropped too close. Eventually I might stop mentioning it, but in fairness to the cards I've already dinged on it, it’ll still get counted. Although the Future Stars logo isn't very legible, Wheeler is one of 15 players in Series 1 to get it on his card.

 

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 30: Zack Wheeler #45 of the New York Mets in action against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on June 30, 2013 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Nationals defeated the Mets 13-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Yep, plenty of uncropped elbow in the original photo and the ball/hand doesn't have to be obscured by the Topps logo. Getty hasn't been real specific with the pitchers on their captions as to the batter or situation.  But it does let me know that this was a 13-2 drubbing. This won’t be good for Wheeler. Let’s go to the BOXSCORE to see just how bad it was.

Well, it looks like most of the runs came late in the game, probably off the bullpen. I’d be surprised if Wheeler made it much past those first five runs. And if he did, certainly not all the way to the 8^th when the Nationals unleashed a half dozen more runs.

So Wheeler did make it a little further but started to get into trouble in the 5^th and got the hook. Wheeler was involved in all five of the Top 5 Plays, although as a pitcher, that’s rarely a good thing. Case in point:

Another thing that caught my attention about this game, and it has nothing to do with Wheeler or this card. Former Cub, Anthony Recker pitched the 9^th inning. And that’s only notable because, with the Cubs, Recker was a catcher. He must have gotten some whiplash from his inning though as you’ll see from the inning summary:

Walk. Home Run. And then three fly balls hit to the outfield. Luckily, they stayed in the field of play. I don’t know how hard they were hit, but with the wind on any given day at Wrigley Field, those could have been gone!

Back to Zack Wheeler. The Mets uniforms were one of seven they used in 2013. See the chart below courtesy of sportslogos.net for the results while wearing this one.

And Rawlings is getting a little Free Advertising with two prominent logos on Wheeler’s glove. And I guess he’s advertising himself too as his name is written on the glove.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Zack is the only Mets rookie to have won his first five road decisions.

Aha! The bludgeoning at the hands of the Nationals was a home game. Sorry season ticket holders, in 2014, Wheeler is only pitching on the road!

The blurb mentions that the Mets won 10 of Wheeler’s first 14 starts. By the end of the season, they had still only won 10 of his eventual 17 starts. It doesn't mention in the five games that Wheeler is credited with “losing” that the Mets scored two runs twice, one run twice and were shutout the last one.

Yes, there was the lopsided game against the Nats depicted on the card, but how about some run support, Mets?!

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #266

Player Name: Zack Wheeler

Team: New York Mets

Position: Pitcher

Game Date: June 30, 2013

Opponent: Washington Nationals

Stadium: Citi Field

Division: National League East

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 13-2, Nationals over the Mets, Loss for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: Yes

Bats/Throws: Left/Right

Birthdate: 5/30/1990

Birthplace: Georgia

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Jim McIsaac

Niche collections this card could fit into: Free Advertising, Future Stars, Alternate Jersey, Partial Southpaw, Former First Round Pick

My Grade: I started out thinking this card would be a dud. Bad crop, boring photo, dud of a game. I think I've seen cards of his in the Pro Debut set but I’ll admit, I've only heard of Zack Wheeler in passing. No appearances against the Cubs last year. After going further into his season, I’d definitely take him on the Cubs.

But that doesn't really have anything to do with the card itself. It does fit into a few of the niche collections to save it from mediocrity of a C. But only barely. Final grade is a B-.