MLB New York Mets

New York Mets’ Wilmer Flores Must Attend Fitness Camp This Winter

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By @mturnerny

Wilmer Flores New York Mets

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

In years past, several New York Mets players have attended a fitness camp in Michigan during the offseason. This year, the Mets have brought the camp operator to Port St. Lucie, where they can again train – only this time it will be at their Spring Training home. David Wright, Lucas Duda, Jonathon Niese, Travis d’Arnaud and others are all reportedly going to the camp. However, if Wilmer Flores is expected to be the starting shortstop in 2015, he should certainly attend as well.

Although nearly every fan is begging GM Sandy Alderson to bring in a proven shortstop who can turn the Mets from pretenders to contenders, it seems he’s fine with staying put. And while there’s plenty of time left in winter, with each day, the reality of Flores starting becomes more and more realistic. Obviously Flores isn’t the best defensive shortstop, but he is still young and has plenty of time to improve. On top of that, he still projects to be a pretty good hitter.

Last season, Flores hit .251 with six home runs and 29 RBIs. Five of those home runs and 22 of his RBIs came in the last couple months of the season, however, showing that he may be able to top those numbers this season. There’s also the fact that shortstop generally isn’t considered one of the most offensive positions in the game, so anything above average that Flores can do with the bat is beneficial to the Mets.

All of that starts this winter. Flores already had a great season in Venezuelan ball this winter, hitting .322 with six homers and 18 RBIs in 90 at-bats. Over the course of a full season, that’s more than 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. Will he do that in the Majors? No. But would a happy medium between last season and numbers like those be great? Yes.

By attending the fitness camp this winter, Flores can enter 2015 as healthy as he’s ever been. In addition to nutrition, the camp focuses on strength, speed and agility. While it might be nice to see Flores add some muscle to maybe crank a few more home runs, it’d be far more beneficial to him and the Mets if he even leaned up a bit. It would allow him to play a more fluid shortstop, and with the outfield at Citi Field, it may help him leg out a few more doubles.

Going further than the physical benefits of attending the camp is the simple fact that it shows the Mets and the fans that Flores is serious about being the starting shortstop in New York. Although there isn’t any immediate threat to him on the roster, the Mets do have some good prospects in the Minors who could eventually take over the position. And if they don’t want to wait that long, there’s always the possibility that the make a trade near the deadline.

If Alderson believes in Flores, Flores should return the favor by going down to Port St. Lucie with Wright, Duda and the rest in order to get himself in as good of shape as possible by the time the season starts.

Matt Turner is a New York Mets writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @MturnerNY, or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.

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