Wilmer Flores

Wilmer Flores

By: Hubble Smith, Sports Editor

Las Vegas 51s infielder Wilmer Flores is blasting the ball since being sent down from the New York Mets in June and was named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for July 6.

Flores, 22, connected for six home runs in five games, the first Las Vegas player to accomplish the feat since Melvin Nieves in 1994. He recorded a league-high 13 hits, 12 runs and 16 RBIs during the week, hitting safely in eight games for a .382 average.

In a four-game series at Albuquerque, Flores went 7-for-14 and drove in 12 runs. In 41 games with Las Vegas this year, the 6-3, 205-pound righthander is batting .327 with 11 home runs.

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Flores, from Valencia, Venezuela, was signed by the Mets on his 16th birthday in 2007 and came into this season as the organization’s No. 6 prospect, according to Baseball America. He was selected to play in the Futures Game in 2013.

In 25 games with the Mets this year, he compiled 18 hits and seven RBIs.
It’s Flores’ first Player of the Week award since he was with the Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League in 2008.

The 51s head into Wednesday’s Triple-A All-Star Game at Durham, N.C., leading the Pacific South Division with a 56-41 record, best in the league.

Last year, Flores was the lone All-Star representative from Las Vegas. This year it’s Allan Dykstra. What in the Pete Rose is going on here