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Blue Jays 2015 Top Prospects Wrap Up: Jorge Flores

By Ryan Mueller |
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Mandatory Credit: Scott Mapes/Lansing Lugnuts

http://jaysprospects.com/2014/03/31/jorge-flores-lugnuts/

In 2012, the Blue Jays signed two talented short stops, Franklin Barreto and Richard Urena; however, they also drafted another talented infielder, Jorge Flores. 

Flores has flown under the radar during his time in the Blue Jays system and is underrated in my opinion. You won’t find him atop any of the Top Prospect lists, but I am including him in the Blue Jays 2015 Top Prospect Wrap Ups because I’ve enjoyed watching his heart and hustle during his time in Double-A. You won’t find yourself debating with other Jays fans whether Flores should be considered over Devon Travis or Ryan Goins.

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Flores, orignially from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, was selected in the 19th round out of Central Arizona College. Upon signing, he was assigned to the Vancouver Canadians, appearing in 60 games. Since that time, Jorge has steadily climbed the organizational ladder, finally ending up in New Hampshire to finish 2014.

In his age 23 season, he spend the entire year in Double-A and was named to his first All-Star team since being named to the Post-Season All-Star team in 2012 as a member of the Vancouver C’s.

In total, he played 123 games for the Fisher Cats where he was 1.4 years younger than the average. His slash line was .276/.360/.347. He collected collected over 100 hits for the first time in his career with 109 hits.

The 5’5″ infielder lacks any kind of power, posting an ISO of .071, which was higher than his 2014 ISO with Dunedin (.058) and New Hampshire (.049). The increased power resulted in a lower BABIP and AVG. Jorge posted a .322 BABIP and .276 AVG (10th in the EL), down from .337 BABIP and .293 AVG in 64 Double-A games in 2014. He faded hard down the stretch, hitting .210 in August despite hitting all his home runs during this month.

The right-handed batter hit .280 with 2-outs and runners in scoring position. He didn’t have any noticable splits with a .270 average against RHP and .289 average against LHP.

Next: What does 2016 have in store for Jorge Flores

Jorge Flores – photo courtesy of James Venes, lastoftheninth.com

Flores finished with 20 doubles, 2 HR and a triple while driving in 28 and scoring 49 runs. His patience at the plate continues to be a strength, walking 10.2% of the time and striking out 13.7%. Jorge finished the year with 47 walks and 63 K’s, good for a solid 0.75 BB/K rate.

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    • Jorge is quick and a quality base runner, but has yet to display the ability to be a consistent threat on the base paths finishing with 10-for-21 in stolen base attempts. This is on par with his career stats. Flores only ground into 7 double plays, had 11 sacrifice hits, and 2 sacrifice flys, while getting hit 6 times. I’d like to see him crowd the plate more and push his HBP numbers up toward Tim Locastro range.

    While, the bat will never be his calling card, defense and flexibility will be. In 356 games over 4 seasons, Jorge has played most of his games at SS (244GP), 2B (78GP) and more recently in OF (9GB). In 80 games at short, he posted a fielding percentage of .955, compared to his .982 fielding % in 27 GP at second.  In 697.1 innings, he turned 55 double plays, managed 107 put outs and 232 assists. Watching many of his starts, Flores is ball of energy and attacks ground balls, making the routing plays. He has good range and shows off an above average arm.

    Flores best months were in May and July, hitting .324 and .776 OPS and .306 and .789 OPS. He split his time between the top of the order and the bottom of the order with 26 games batting leadoff, 14 games in the 2-hole, 24 batting 8th, but mostly appeared in the 9th spot with 47 games.

    Projections

    With any luck the Jays will wave good-bye to Jonathan Diaz and Munenori Kawasaki, which will allow Flores a chance with Buffalo Bisons in 2016. I could see the Herds infield consisting of Flores, 3B/2B Andy Burns, and Kevin Nolan. Unfortunately, all three are eligible in this year’s Rule V draft, with Andy Burns having the highest probability of being protected or selected.

    He projects as a AAAA infielder, but developing a running game would elevate him to a solid bench prospect who could fill in for short stretches.

    Update:

    Next: A look inside the rebirth of Aaron Loup's slider

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