NOTE: This is a report from MetsToday’s official sabermetrician and minor league correspondent Matt Himelfarb. Enjoy.
Wilmer Flores has come a long way since Summer 2008 in Kingsport.
Two years ago, Flores, just 16 years old, was assigned to the Kingsport Mets of the Rookie level Appalachian League. At that age, any semblance of production- any semblance of playing time, for that matter- warrants some attention. Yet, Flores took the league by storm, hitting .310/.351/.490 in 265 plate-appearances before a late-season promotion to Brooklyn.
Of course, there were some growing pains along the way.
A little over a month into the season, the Princeton Rays came into town for a three-game set. Tim Beckham, the number one overall pick that June, was there as well, setting the stage for quite a spectacle. For three nights, Hunter Wright Stadium, capacity 2,500, would boast the two best prospects in the league.
“All of a sudden you got probably the best two players in the league”, than Kingsport manager and current Sand Gnats skipper Pedro Lopez says, “and everybody wants to know who’s the best? Who’s the better shortstop in the league? And I saw this kid is really nice, really polite. Its unbelievable.”
Than came his first interview with a reporter from New York, with Lopez acting as translator. Most of it went something like this: