Brian Erni

When it first came off the bat, I wasn’t sure Flores had gotten all of the breaking pitch Hawkins hung out over the plate. But sure enough, it carried over the left centerfield fence. Later, with another opportunity with men in scoring position, Flores drove a ball to the opposite field for a sacrifice fly and  his fourth run batted in.

Truthfully, I was more encouraged by the sac fly than the home run. From where I was, it felt like the sac fly was hit with more authority, and it showed more situational prowess than simply capitalizing on a mistake. That said, it’s an intrasquad game, so I’m tempering my enthusiasm. There’s no doubt it’s encouraging to see Flores produce in game situations against Major League pitching, but it’s still very early. As Grapefruit League action gets cranked up, I’m curious to see what kind of situations Terry puts Flores in.