Top Performer Spotlight: 2020 LHP/OF Michael Flores

QUICK TAKE

I've had the opportunity to see Flores close to a dozen times since January and the guy is as steady as they go from the outside. Just watching him you get a sense of calm to his demeanor that plays itself on the field. He's not going to over power guys and blow them away on the mound, but I've seen him make really good hitters look bad. The guy simply doesn't get squared up often whatsoever. His combination of command and feel for both the fastball and curveball make him a difficult pitcher for a hitter to hit. At the plate he continues to show a deep understanding of his hitting zone and you don't see him chase bad pitches often. His feel for the barrel is real and he has the ability to hit pitches where they're thrown with his smooth left handed swing.

SCOUTING REPORT

8/1/18 - SoCal Underclass Games - Five-foot-9, 150-pounds, medium frame with proportional strength throughout the body. Squared shoulders. The 68th ranked player in the Class of 2020 Top 100, Flores is a player we are very familiar with and he backed up ranking. Flores shows a compact delivery with a fast arm that he releases through a ¾ slot. Delivery is athletic with a high pointed-toe leg lift through to an athletic landing that is in-line and square to target. Flores pounds the zone with a running fastball that flashes late life that he's able to spot wherever he wants. Uses entire strike zone to throw strikes with the pitch. Curveball has been really good since we first saw Flores in the spring and that stayed true. The pitch is tight and has gone from slurvy to sharp, with biting action late. Showed much better command with the pitch this outing. Velocity has ticked up on the pitch since spring (69-71 in spring, 71-73 now). Shows the ability to spot curveball as well working both in-and-out with it to hitters. Changeup shows late riding action and induces weak contact from righties.

4/3/18 - The uncommitted Flores took the mound in this game and impressed from the outset. The thing that immediately stands out when he pitches is the ease with which the ball comes out of his hand from a high ¾ delivery. It looks like he's playing catch. His consistently spotted his fastball where he wanted it and it showed a little life late in the zone. Working primarily 83-84 mph the fastball touched 86 mph several times. Flores showed a knack for keeping the ball down in the zone, elevating it only when done intentionally. Flores maintained his velocity throughout his start, touching 86 in the 5th inning. His curveball is tight and slurvy, but can get away from him at times. The pitch settled in at 67-68 mph touching 69 mph several times. The impressive thing about his curveball was his ability to both bust hitters in with it and go away from them. Flores also shows really good feel for a changeup that has late riding action away from righties at 74-75 mph. He throws all his pitches from the same slot and uses the same arm speed.

3/6/18 - The uncommitted USA alum got it started quickly with a 2RBI single to left in the 1st inning to put the Panthers on the board. He tacked on another RBI ending the day with 3RBI a run scored and 3 quality at-bats. Flores is hitting .400 on the year.

2/24/18 - Uncommitted. 5-foot-8, 140-pound frame. Member of the 2017 USA Baseball 15U national team. Did not pitch this day, instead was the teams DH. Offensively, Flores uses an upright stance that leads into a slight crouch with quiet hands. Leg lift trigger before exploding into the ball. Shows very good pitch recognition and a mature approach to hitting. Drives ball with good barrel control through the zone. Covers entire plate.