Rafael Flores has had an unconventional path to the Major Leagues, as the Yankees didn’t use a draft pick in 2022 to acquire him. In fact, all 30 teams in baseball passed on a chance to draft him at every stage of that year’s amateur draft, and the Yankees would sign him as a UDFA and send him to the Florida Complex League. After showing some flashes at the plate in 2022 and 2023, this season would be a potential make-it-or-break-it year as he entered his age-23 season without having much offensive momentum to fly through the organization.
A 146 wRC+ and .403 OBP in High-A would catch the Yankees’ attention, allowing Flores to move up and get a chance to face Double-A pitching. Instead of being overwhelmed, he’s crushed the competition, and the Yankees could have stumbled into another catching option for the 2025 season.
Red-Hot Start Could Have Rafael Flores on the Yankees’ MiLB Radar
Standing at 6’4, it’s easy to see why Rafael Flores would have a strong raw power tool. The right-handed hitting catcher has always been known to hit the ball with authority, as evidenced by a 110 MPH home run he hit earlier this week. A big misconception about raw power is that it always translates to game power. While it’s easier to hit home runs when you can run high exit velocities, you still have to lift the ball and generate the right kind of spray angles to get the power output you’re looking for consistently.
Mookie Betts doesn’t have the raw power that someone like Matt Chapman has, but the 2018 AL MVP has a better ISO in his career and has hit home runs at a higher rate because of his ability to pull the ball in the air. Rafael Flores had a pretty large discrepancy between his raw power and game power last season, hitting just eight home runs in 105 games with a .107 ISO. This season, he’s hit 15 home runs in 91 games with a .213 ISO, a massive spike that stems from improving batted ball data.
This change happened mid-season, as he has generated way more contact in the air and as a result, has hit for more power.
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When someone with 60-65 Grade Raw Power starts lifting the ball consistently, you have to take notice, and the Yankees have done a great job developing his approach at the plate. Rafael Flores isn’t going to be on any top-100 lists, but he certainly warrants a mention for being one of the 15-20 best prospects in the organization. Thus far in Double-A, Rafael Flores has a 147 wRC+ and .527 SLG%, and while results aren’t the best way to evaluate a prospect, the ways he has reached those marks are impressive.
He’s a power hitter who has the patience to work walks and is starting to see the strikeout rate drop. It’s not surprising to see a hitter whiff more than they normally do when they try to lift the ball more often, and we’re starting to see the strikeout rate come down in recent games as he has a sub-20% K% over his last 10 games. What makes this story fascinating isn’t just the numbers or the lasers he can hit to all sides of the field, but the progression he’s made at the professional level.
Rafael Flores was an undrafted free agent, meaning he was passed over 616 times in the 2022 MLB Draft. Coming out of a JUCO, he’s an underdog who has seen his stock explode over the summer. If he’s able to shave down the strikeout rate we could be looking at a hitter who’s MLB-ready at some point in 2025. The Yankees have relied on their youth a lot this season, with Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil being valuable starters alongside Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe in the lineup.
There’s no way to know what Rafael Flores will become down the road, but his meteoric rise is eerily similar to what we saw from Ben Rice last season, and perhaps he can follow suit and make it to the Majors soon.