CHICAGO — Through 37 games, Wilmer Flores owns an ordinary slash line of .256/.308/.429. Based on weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+), he’s only eight percent better than a league average hitter. Where the Giants veteran continues to shine, though, is with runners in scoring position.

After driving in a run in Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs, Flores is up to 33 RBIs on the season — one behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández and the Mets’ Pete Alonso for the most in all of baseball. At this rate he’d drive in 140 runs this season.

“He just knows the situation,” Melvin said. “He thinks really clearly. He knows he doesn’t have to hit a homer. He knows he doesn’t have to hit it hard at times. … He just has a nose for it. He smells RBIs. If you look at the overall numbers and what he’s hitting and all that, it looks semi-pedestrian, but in those clutch situations, it’s next level stuff.”

Just for fun, only three players in franchise history have hit that mark: Willie Mays (141 in 1962), Orlando Cepeda (142, 1961) and Mel Ott (151, 1929). Barry Bonds maxed out at 137 RBIs in 2001.

Flores likely won’t be joining the 140-RBI club, but it’s well within reason that he could break his career-high of 71 RBIs if he continues cashing in on opportunities.

The Giants (24-14) were off Thursday and resume their six-game trip Friday in Minnesota.

Flores has had 41 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. Over those 41 plate appearances he has a slash line of .429/.512/.686. Among hitters with at least 40 plate appearances with RISP, Flores’ 1.198 OPS is third, trailing only Alonso (1.397) and Hernández (1.266). Flores’ 27 RBIs with runners in scoring position are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo for the most in the majors. Three of his seven homers have come with runners in scoring position.

Flores isn’t the only Giant making the most of his opportunities. The Giants’ offense ranks 15th in OPS (.701) but eighth in runs scored (183) because of their collective .833 OPS with runners in scoring position. That is the third-best mark in baseball behind only the Dodgers (.922) and the Cubs (.862).

Along with Flores, San Francisco has six hitters with an OPS of at least .900 with runners in scoring position this season, a list that includes Mike Yastrzemski (1.165) and Tyler Fitzgerald (1.008).

What makes Flores’ RBI proficiency this season so fascinating is that he’s been roughly an average hitter with runners in scoring position for his entire career. Entering this season, Flores had a career .706 OPS with runners in scoring position. In 2022, the year Flores had a career-high 71 RBIs, he also had a career-high .940 OPS with runners in scoring position.

Harrison heating up

Much of Kyle Harrison’s appeal as a prospect was his mid-to-high 90s velocity. He flashed that heat when he made his debut in 2023, but it was mostly absent in his first full major-league season in ’24.

In his first major-league relief appearance, Harrison showed that the velocity is back.

Harrison threw nine four-seam fastballs during a scoreless inning in Tuesday’s 14-5, 11-inning win over the Cubs, heaters that averaged 96.2 mph. The left-hander topped out at 97.0 mph, a speed that he previously only hit on two other occasions at the major-league level.

“It’s great to see,” Harrison said prior to his season debut. “I haven’t seen that in a while. Going back to the shoulder thing, that was the frustrating part where just couldn’t get over that hump. Mechanics were bad. Just really took that month and change in (Triple-A) Sacramento to feel right, implement those routines, get the arm height up. Been seeing great results.”

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Kyle Harrison (45) and catcher Patrick Bailey celebrate after a victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago on May 6, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) 

As intriguing as the velocity was how those pitches were moving. In 2024, Harrison averaged 10.8 inches of induced vertical break but averaged 13.4 inches of induced vertical break on Tuesday — meaning his fastballs had more ride compared to last year. Or, to put it more simply, Harrison’s fastballs were dropping less.

That increase in vertical movement was a product of a heightened arm angle. Harrison made his debut with his arm angle at 30 degrees, but that dropped down to 24 degrees last season. In his outing against the Cubs, his arm angle was up to 26 degrees.

“We were looking at video after video to see what it was,” Harrison said. “Sure enough, the big correlation was arm height with me. So, I had to get that up in Triple-A, and the vert went up as a result.”

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Another interesting wrinkle in Harrison’s season debut was his slider velocity. Harrison only threw two, but they clocked in at 83.3 and 83.5 mph. Last season, Harrison’s average slurve clocked in at 80.6 mph.

Harrison didn’t throw his changeup, the third pitch in his arsenal, on Tuesday, but there appears to be a velocity uptick with that pitch as well. In 2024, Harrison’s average changeup clocked in at 84.8 mph. In his last start with Sacramento, Harrison’s changeup averaged 87.3 mph.

“My mindset’s to go out there and throw strikes and get guys out as quick as I can in the role I’m in now,” Harrison said. “Control what you can control. Went out there and did the best I could.”