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WASHINGTON — The 2024 San Francisco Giants never had last year’s version of Wilmer Flores. They didn’t receive anywhere near the same production from the highly respected veteran infielder, who crushed left-handed pitchers and hit a team-leading 23 home runs last season.
Now they’ll be without any version of Flores the rest of the way.
Giants manager Bob Melvin said Flores would miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee Tuesday in Los Angeles. The Tenex procedure is considered minimally invasive and uses a needle to clean out dead tissue around the quadriceps tendon above the knee. But the Giants prepared themselves for the eventuality that Flores would miss significant time, acquiring Mark Canha on July 30 to fill a role as a right-handed-hitting first baseman and bat off the bench.
Flores, who turned 33 on Tuesday, batted just .206 with four home runs and a 72 OPS+ (with 100 representing a league-average hitter). His OPS+ last season was 136. He wasn’t suffering from extreme misfortune, either. His 83.5 mph average exit velocity was the lowest among 259 qualified major-league hitters. He was also the slowest base runner among non-catchers at 24.0 feet per second.
Melvin said Flores’ chronic knee pain had a direct impact on his steep downturn at the plate.
“He’s in his legs,” Melvin said, referring to Flores’ hitting style. “That’s what he does and how he generates his power. So personally, I think it’s affected him quite a bit. He’ll play it off and tell you, ‘If I’m out there, I’m healthy and ready to play.’ But I do think it affected him.
“This is a guy who last year led the team with home runs and is as clutch a guy as you can possibly have. He was fighting it all year.”
The Giants hold an $8.5 million club option on Flores for 2025 that they almost certainly would decline, but the order of operations likely won’t get that far. That’s because Flores has the first action and can exercise a $3.5 million player option that he is likely to choose, leaving the Giants with the decision whether to keep him on the 40-man roster or release him.
Melvin said he hopes Flores has a locker in the Giants’ spring clubhouse.
“He’s someone I’ve really admired from the other side in the past,” Melvin said. “He has a lot of leadership qualities. Even though he’s not here, he’s checking in, telling me to keep it rolling — all the things you’d expect from a leader.”
Seocnd baseman Thairo Estrada, who landed on the injured list at the same time as Flores, is testing his sprained left wrist by taking tee swings but there is no timetable for his return.
The Giants are also without backup catcher Curt Casali, who went on the paternity list to join his wife, Rene, for the birth of their second child. Casali is expected to rejoin the team Friday in San Francisco. In the meantime, the Giants recalled catcher Jakson Reetz, who will start behind the plate in Thursday’s series finale.
The injury news was better on Heliot Ramos, who has been battling a jammed thumb and rested Monday. Ramos returned to the lineup and drilled a home run in his first at-bat Tuesday.
(Photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
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Courtesy : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5685392/2024/08/06/sf-giants-wilmer-flores-knee-injury/