San Francisco Giants Need Injured Slugger to Bounce Back This Season

The San Francisco Giants are still looking for a suitable designated hitter and they could find it in Wilmer Flores as he returns from injury.

Wilmer Flores exercised his player option this offseason, so he will be returning to the Bay Area for the 2025 season.

In 2024, Flores had an injury-riddled season. It was capped off by season-ending knee surgery last August. During the year, the 33-year-old had one of the worst seasons of his career. Flores slashed .206/.277/.318. He had a career-low in OPS, hard-hit percentage and WAR. Needless to say, it was a season to forget for the veteran first baseman.

The tough year can be blamed on his injuries, though. Just a year before that, the first baseman hit .284 with 23 home runs and an .863 OPS in 126 games played. In 2023, Flores ranked in the 94th percentile in whiff percentage and 93rd percentile in strikeout percentage. Along with that, the first baseman was a suitable defender.

The Giants greatly benefit from Flores returning back to that level of play. Their current first baseman is LaMonte Wade Jr, and he is pretty good. He is most likely going to get the nod on opening day, but Flores has a chance to compete for the starting job.

The position Flores would most likely start at is DH. He is in a battle with Jerar Encarnacion, but it is going to be a good battle. Encarnacion played 35 games in 2024 and hit .248 with a .702 OPS. The 27-year-old was very good in the minor leagues, though. In Triple-A, Encarnacion had an OPS of 1.052 and he slugged 10 home runs in 33 games played. His bat is very dangerous, so the DH spot could be his come end of March.

Flores has to compete with two hitters that can get the job done at a high level. However, he is more than capable of competing himself. In his 12 years in the bigs, he has a career .260 batting average, .751 OPS, 153 home runs and 1,006 total hits.

The Venezuelan has had a respectable career. He is feeling healthy heading into the 2025 season, and he should be given a shot to compete for one of the two starting spots in the lineup.

Assuming his health, the Giants will have a good bat coming back into their lineup. They are not expected to have a good season, but Flores having a good year would give San Francisco a boost in playoff projections.

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