It felt like a winner to Wilmer Flores.
The Mets’ utilityman, who became something of a folk hero for his near-trade last season, admittedly has had a tough time this season adjusting to a backup role. He has struggled offensively, so when he homered Saturday, he enjoyed every moment of it.
“It felt great. I ran the bases like it was a walk off,” said Flores, whose throwing error led to three unearned Giants runs in the Mets’ 6-5 win. “It felt good. Finally start helping the team. … I’m definitely trying to keep my confidence out there at the plate and when I’m playing. To do this job, you have to be mentally stronger.”
Of his errant throw in the third inning, Flores said: “Just made a bad throw. I didn’t rush or anything.”
Manager Terry Collins said he hopes the homer can lift Flores.
“I think it was a huge home run for him. It was a huge hit. … He’s really scuffling. It’s tearing him up,” said Collins, who noted he repeatedly has stressed to Flores there is “a long way to go.”
This was the game Jacob deGrom was going to get back to normalcy after pitching the home opener with his wife due to go into labor, suffering lat tightness and enduring medical concerns for his newborn son.
But for deGrom, any walks, let alone the four he dealt, is hardly normal.
“There were times I felt good out there, times I didn’t. I struggled with my command a little bit. Early on I felt all right,” said deGrom, who despite walking two in the second inning and two in the fourth, did not surrender an earned run and lowered his ERA to 1.02 (17 ²/₃ innings, two earned runs). “I felt like things were more in line, and then I kind of got out of my delivery later on.“I would say I don’t feel as comfortable as I normally do on the mound, so just getting back into my normal routine and working in between starts, that all will come back into line now that everything’s good and I’m back here.”
Madison Bumgarner is pitching for the Giants on Sunday, so Collins gave David Wright off Saturday.
The Mets have been cautious and careful managing Wright, who was limited to just 38 games last season because of his battle with spinal stenosis. Every game day for Wright contains a lengthy two-hour preparation before batting practice, and the Mets don’t want to tax him.
“None of us, including David, know what to expect from day to day,” Collins said. “So we have tried to do the best we can to monitor his work, to monitor his playing time. We talked about this week coming up. I said, ‘Look, you’ve got to play Sunday against Madison. You’ve got to be in that lineup.’
“[When] the weather starts to warm up, I think it will be a little easier for him to get through three days in a row, maybe even four days in a row. … I’m sure he’s frustrated, but as I continue to tell him, we’ve got to give it some time to see what it’s going to be like after 50 games, 60 games. Let’s not get too caught up in the first 20.”
Wright said the preparation process “is not ideal because it takes a lot of time and effort.”
“As a baseball player, you want your effort to go into baseball and not preparing,” he said. “But the bottom line and what I tell myself is if you want to play, you’ve got to do it.”
