Jesús Miguel Flores (born October 26, 1984 in Sucre,
Venezuela) is a catcher in Major League Baseball who
plays for the Washington Nationals. He bats and
throws right handed.
In parts of three minor league seasons, Flores hit
.257 (230-for-895) with 33 home runs and 140 RBI in
250 games played. In 2004 he made the Gulf Coast
League All-Star team.
In 2006 he had a terrific minor league season with
the Mets' A+ team, St. Lucie. By the end of the
season, he was rated by Baseball America as the New
York Mets top catching prospect after hitting .266
with a .335 on base percentage and a .487 slugging
average. He also hit 32 doubles and tied for the
Florida State League lead with 21 home runs, making
the Florida State League Mid-Season and Post-Season
All-Star teams.
Flores, never having played above A-ball, was
obtained by the Washington Nationals in the 2006
Rule 5 draft on December 7, 2006, and signed to a
one year contract on the following January 16. As a
Rule 5 player he must be on the major league roster
the following year. The Mets apparently left him
unprotected because they didn't think another major
league team would think him ready -- but the
Nationals were in a major rebuilding phase and
didn't have a deep roster.
His major league debut with Washington was on April
4, 2007, and his first start on April 19. Three days
later, on April 22, he made his second start, and
collected his first hits: he went 2-for-3 with a
walk, two doubles and two RBIs.
On September 4, 2007, Flores hit a 2 RBI, walk-off
single to beat the Florida Marlins.
During the 2007-08 offseason, Flores played for
Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan
Professional Baseball League.
