By unanimous acclaim, Wilmer Alejandro Flores gets a Picture of the Post, his fourth of the 2025 season, on top of another back when camp opened. All he did against the Sacramento Athletics was hit three homers for 8 RBI in the first game (including a grand slam), and draw a bases loaded walk off very fast ball closer Mason Miller in the bottom of the 10th for the only run of the second game. Said Ryan Walker after the second game, “We’ll take Wilmer up with the game on the line any time, that’s a no-brainer”, which is true for us fans, too. He leads the majors with 12 go-ahead RBI. His grand slam was on the 10th pitch of that AB. His walk-in RBI was on the 9th pitch of that AB, against 104 mph stuff. He is ruthless! But only at the plate, as with his teammates, he is supportive, low-key, and beloved. This is his 6th year with the Giants, which equals his tenure with the Mets, playing for $3.5M on a player option. He now has more RBI as a Giant (284) than with NY (253), and clearly has his sights aimed at his career high of 71 back in ’22, with a flashy MLB leading 42 after the first 45 games. Last season he reached the 1,000 hit, 200 doubles, and 150 homer milestones. Go Flo!
We’ll put that February camp opening profile into the comments. It is very long, because so many people have so many nice things to say about him. And LouSeal found his intense walk-off walk: https://twitter.com/pitchingninja/status/1924063846731268452
Oh, yes, the 26-22 Royals come to town for three. Maybe we should preview that?
• Monday, 6:45, LHP Kris Bubic (4-2, 1.66) vs. Robbie Ray (6-0, 3.04)
• Tuesday, 6:45, RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-4, 3.76) vs. Hayden Birdsong (1-0, 2.31)
• Wednesday, 12:45, TBD vs. Logan Webb (5-3, 2.24)
The Royals just dropped their “rival series” this past weekend against the Cardinals, 1-2. Note that the 28-19 Giants have sent Jordan Hicks to the bullpen, promoting Birdy into the rotation, a choice that keeps Kyle Harrison as a second lefty out of the pen. The word is that they will let Birdy make about 70 pitches. The Giants have Thursday off, before playing in the nation’s capital next weekend.
Matt Quatraro, the Royals 3rd year manager, plays these guys,
🧢 1B Vinnie Pasquantino (26), 2B Michael Massey (13), SS Bobby Witt (25), 3B Maikel Garcia
(20)
🧢 RF Drew Waters (9), CF Kyle Isbel (12), LF Jonathan India (12)
🧢 C Salvador Perez (21), DH Cavan Biggio (3)
🧢 rotation Kris Bubic, Michael Lorenzen, ???, Noah Cameron (1-1, 0.71), Michael Wacha (3-4, 2.96)
🧢 closer Carlos Estevez, set ups Lucas Erceg and Daniel Lynch
Bobby Witt (0.309) and Maikel Garcia (0.301) are the bat on ball guys. The ??? means that the Royals put two starters (Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo) on the IL on Saturday, calling up Noah Cameron and reliever Evan Sisk. By Wednesday, they will either make another move, or decide to rely on a bullpen game.
Former Giant Chris Stratton was released on Sunday. That leaves utility player Mark Canha (0.265) as the only active ex-Giant. Sam Long is on the 15-day IL. Salvador Perez, seemingly indestructible, is playing at age 35. The team has started playing him at first base the last three years, part time. In 2025, he has caught 22 times, played first 11 times, and DH’d 12 times. His 4/$82M contract, the richest in Royals’ history, ends this season, with a club option for 2026. It will be a sad day for MLB when we hear Salvy is retiring.
