Ex-Dodger Karros crushes Giants for batting Flores third originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
When Giants manager Gabe Kapler rolled out his lineup for Saturday’s clash against the San Diego Padres, he slotted Wilmer Flores in the third spot of the batting order.
FOX baseball analyst Eric Karros, who played 12 seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers over his big league career, was not a fan of the move.
“When you look at the Giants — really, Gabe Kapler, the front office — they’ve got to do a great job of mixing and matching,” Karros said on the air as Flores batted in the third inning against Yu Darvish. “This is your No. 3 hitter? He’s hitting .240, nine home runs. On the other side, you’ve got … a guy like [Manny] Machado that’s in the middle of [San Diego’s] lineup.”
It’s not a new lineup spot for Flores. Of the 68 games he’s started, Flores has often been the Giants’ third hitter — 28 times to be exact.
Fellow broadcaster Don Orsillo brought up Flores’ best quality of late — getting on base. Despite notching only four hits over the last 10 games, Flores has tallied 11 walks to boost his on-base percentage in that span to .471.
Still, though, Karros did not approve.
“Not as my third hitter,” Karros said of Flores. “I’ve got Machado on the other side so when I’m comparing I’m going, ‘This is my third hitter?’
“It’s amazing where the Giants are right now. It really is.”
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San Francisco, winners of just three of its last 15 games, are in jeopardy of dropping under .500 for the first time this season. During their 3-12 stretch, the Giants rank dead last in the NL in batting average (.212) and slugging percentage (.350).
However, Flores got a chance to silence Karros in the eighth inning with a two-run blast to put the Giants up 3-1.