CLEVELAND — Although several years have passed since the Venezuelan Wilmer Flores was a member of the organization, the Flores family still has ties to the Mets.
Nine years after Flores earned a place in fans’ hearts at the 2015 Trade Deadline, the veteran’s first cousin, Saul Garcia, begins to make an impact on the New York organization. García, a pitcher, for the first time this offseason became part of the roster of the Mets Top 30 Prospects ranked by MLB Pipeline, coming in at No. 29.
The Flores’ father, older brother and son are also named Wilmer.
“I don’t know what it is,” the former Mets infielder declared last month in the Giants clubhouse. “I am glad that [García] is attracting attention. He is a great guy, down to earth. He knows what he wants. Reserved, like we all are.”
Garcia, who developed slowly, did not sign with the New York club as an international free agent until he was 18 years old. He didn’t pitch much as a teenager, but he still moved up to full-season level in 2023, logging 80.1 innings between Class-A St. Lucie and Class-A Alta Brooklyn.
Back in St. Lucie to start the season, Garcia has faced some issues, although his 6.30 ERA comes with some conditions. One is that he missed two weeks in late April with a sore hamstring. The other is that the bad results came over two presentations. In the other four, he has not allowed a hit.
“He’s an intriguing guy,” Mets director of player development Andrew Christie said. “The main thing for him is strikes. “That will be the biggest focus for several pitchers at our youth levels.”
For now, the Mets are using Garcia as a multi-inning reliever, with plans to increase his workload to serve as a starter. Although Garcia would ultimately end up in the bullpen, the Mets prefer to keep their pitching prospects in the rotation until they prove it’s time for a transition.
Christie described Garcia as a classic fastball/slider with a “really interesting” fastball that “avoids the fat part of the bats very, very well.” Also, a sweeper-style slider between 80 mph and a changeup.
“The fastball and slider are almost his calling cards,” Christie explained. “When he’s on the right track, both pitches are already at the major league level, which sounds a little ridiculous, but it’s the truth. It’s simply about learning to have better command.”
It also benefits him to be part of a family with a Major League pedigree. Although García is younger than her cousin by 12 years, Flores said they “practically lived together” at one point in their childhood. Flores’ mother is the sister of García’s father, and the families were neighbors in northern Venezuela.
As a child, García was “very skinny,” according to Flores, to the point that “no one thought he was going to play ball.”
That has changed since then.
“Now it’s a flamethrower? No?” Flores added. “Work hard. He and my brother trained together. They are both pitchers. It’s good to see how far they’ve come, because they’ve truly worked hard for it. And they have continued like this.”
