It’s pretty simple when it comes to Wilmer Flores, really. If you simply allow him to be, if you give him a safe roster spot and a fairly regular place in the lineup, then he’ll be a nice player, a fine player, a player who won’t hurt you too often but won’t really help all that much, either.
If you threaten him, however, he’s George Brett.
Put his job in jeopardy, he turns into Mike Schmidt.
“We’ve had,” Terry Collins said, smiling, “the same observation.”
It’s a curious phenomenon, not unlike Batman always figuring a way to slither away from the giant clam cliffhanger at the end of an episode, not unlike Tom Coughlin’s unique talent to deliver Super Bowl championships whenever calls for his head, his hide and his job were at their loudest.