CHICAGO — Via 37 video games, Wilmer Flores owns an extraordinary slash line of .256/.308/.429. Primarily based on weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+), he’s solely eight % higher than a league common hitter. The place the Giants veteran continues to shine, although, is with runners in scoring place.
After driving in a run in Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs, Flores is as much as 33 RBIs on the season — one behind the Yankees’ Aaron Decide, the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández and the Mets’ Pete Alonso for probably the most in all of baseball. At this fee he’d drive in 140 runs this season.
“He just knows the situation,” Melvin mentioned. “He thinks really clearly. He knows he doesn’t have to hit a homer. He knows he doesn’t have to hit it hard at times. … He just has a nose for it. He smells RBIs. If you look at the overall numbers and what he’s hitting and all that, it looks semi-pedestrian, but in those clutch situations, it’s next level stuff.”
Only for enjoyable, solely three gamers in franchise historical past have hit that mark: Willie Mays (141 in 1962), Orlando Cepeda (142, 1961) and Mel Ott (151, 1929). Barry Bonds maxed out at 137 RBIs in 2001.
Flores probably gained’t be becoming a member of the 140-RBI membership, however it’s properly inside motive that he may break his career-high of 71 RBIs if he continues cashing in on alternatives.
The Giants (24-14) have been off Thursday and resume their six-game journey Friday in Minnesota.
Flores has had 41 plate appearances with runners in scoring place. Over these 41 plate appearances he has a slash line of .429/.512/.686. Amongst hitters with a minimum of 40 plate appearances with RISP, Flores’ 1.198 OPS is third, trailing solely Alonso (1.397) and Hernández (1.266). Flores’ 27 RBIs with runners in scoring place are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo for probably the most within the majors. Three of his seven homers have include runners in scoring place.
Flores isn’t the one Big profiting from his alternatives. The Giants’ offense ranks fifteenth in OPS (.701) however eighth in runs scored (183) due to their collective .833 OPS with runners in scoring place. That’s the third-best mark in baseball behind solely the Dodgers (.922) and the Cubs (.862).
Together with Flores, San Francisco has six hitters with an OPS of a minimum of .900 with runners in scoring place this season, an inventory that features Mike Yastrzemski (1.165) and Tyler Fitzgerald (1.008).
What makes Flores’ RBI proficiency this season so fascinating is that he’s been roughly a median hitter with runners in scoring place for his total profession. Getting into this season, Flores had a profession .706 OPS with runners in scoring place. In 2022, the yr Flores had a career-high 71 RBIs, he additionally had a career-high .940 OPS with runners in scoring place.
Harrison heating up
A lot of Kyle Harrison’s enchantment as a prospect was his mid-to-high 90s velocity. He flashed that warmth when he made his debut in 2023, however it was principally absent in his first full major-league season in ’24.
In his first major-league reduction look, Harrison confirmed that the rate is again.
Harrison threw 9 four-seam fastballs throughout a scoreless inning in Tuesday’s 14-5, 11-inning win over the Cubs, heaters that averaged 96.2 mph. The left-hander topped out at 97.0 mph, a velocity that he beforehand solely hit on two different events on the major-league degree.
“It’s great to see,” Harrison mentioned previous to his season debut. “I haven’t seen that in a while. Going back to the shoulder thing, that was the frustrating part where just couldn’t get over that hump. Mechanics were bad. Just really took that month and change in (Triple-A) Sacramento to feel right, implement those routines, get the arm height up. Been seeing great results.”
San Francisco Giants reduction pitcher Kyle Harrison (45) and catcher Patrick Bailey have fun after a victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Discipline in Chicago on Could 6, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
As intriguing as the rate was how these pitches have been transferring. In 2024, Harrison averaged 10.8 inches of induced vertical break however averaged 13.4 inches of induced vertical break on Tuesday — which means his fastballs had extra trip in comparison with final yr. Or, to place it extra merely, Harrison’s fastballs have been dropping much less.
That improve in vertical motion was a product of a heightened arm angle. Harrison made his debut along with his arm angle at 30 levels, however that dropped all the way down to 24 levels final season. In his outing towards the Cubs, his arm angle was as much as 26 levels.
“We were looking at video after video to see what it was,” Harrison mentioned. “Sure enough, the big correlation was arm height with me. So, I had to get that up in Triple-A, and the vert went up as a result.”
One other fascinating wrinkle in Harrison’s season debut was his slider velocity. Harrison solely threw two, however they clocked in at 83.3 and 83.5 mph. Final season, Harrison’s common slurve clocked in at 80.6 mph.
Harrison didn’t throw his changeup, the third pitch in his arsenal, on Tuesday, however there seems to be a velocity uptick with that pitch as properly. In 2024, Harrison’s common changeup clocked in at 84.8 mph. In his final begin with Sacramento, Harrison’s changeup averaged 87.3 mph.
“My mindset’s to go out there and throw strikes and get guys out as quick as I can in the role I’m in now,” Harrison mentioned. “Control what you can control. Went out there and did the best I could.”
