Wilmer Flores’ power surge continues for the Giants

Aug 24, 2023, 9:51 AM | Updated: 9:52 am

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 7: Wilmer Flores #41 of the San Francisco Giants celebrates scoring a ...

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

If you were to go back to Opening Day and make a guess on which San Francisco Giants player would lead this 2023 team in home runs and slugging percentage, who would you pick?

Joc Pederson? Makes sense. Michael Conforto? Hey, he’s hit 33 home runs in a season before.

Either of those picks would be incorrect, as Wilmer Flores’ power-filled 2023 season continues to move full-speed ahead.

Flores mashed his team-leading 18th home run of the season during San Francisco’s 8-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, marking the veteran infielder’s second long-ball over the past four games.

Get the Flo right pic.twitter.com/idf5bGe7M5

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 23, 2023

Flores’ power surge isn’t an isolated occurrence. The 32-year-old is one home run shy of tying his career-high of 19 that was set last season.

Through 95 appearances this season, Flores has been the Giants’ best hitter by a wide margin:

HR: 18 (Leads team)
AVG: .304 (Leads team)
SLG: .545 (Leads team)
OPS: .910 (Leads team)
Total bases: 155 (Leads team)
Doubles: 19 (2nd)
Hits: 92 (4th)

Flores’ past 30 games have been MVP-esque, with the infielder batting .349 to go along with 10 home runs, 22 RBI, and an incredible on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.112 since July 17th.

A sputtering San Francisco offense has leaned on Flores over the past month while players like Brandon Crawford, Mike Yastrzemski, and Mitch Haniger deal with injuries.

While players like LaMonte Wade Jr. and Thairo Estrada have also made their marks in the lineup this season, it’s hard to imagine where this offense would be without Flores’ impact over the past month of action.

Wilmer Flores extends the Giants lead with this 2-run homer 💪

(via @BRWalkoff)pic.twitter.com/KUkvDr4SLx

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 16, 2023

In fact, Flores’ mark on this Giants team goes back beyond this season.

Coming into the 2020 season–Flores’ first with San Francisco–the infielder had hit 18 home runs during a season once in his career (2017).

Here are Flores’ numbers through his first four seasons in a Giants uniform:

2o2o: 12 HR | 32 RBI | .515 SLG (55 games)
2021: 18 HR | 53 RBI | .447 SLG (139 games)
2022: 19 HR| 71 RBI | .391 SLG (151 games)
2023: 18 HR | 46 RBI | .545 SLG (95 games)

Flores’ two-year, $13 million deal that runs through the 2024 season (with an $8.5 million team option or $3.5 million player option for 2025) is looking like one of the better bargain contracts in baseball.