Coming off one of his best games as a professional on Thursday with a pair of home runs and throwing out an attempted base stealer, while helping lead Braxton Ashcraft to a complete game, Rafael Flores Jr. has to feel inflated.
However, that’s not always the case for the young catcher, who openly discussed the mental side and the work he’s put in.
“Baseball is hard, and it’s all mental,” Flores said. “If I’m playing good baseball, I think it’s because my mental state is on point. Throughout the course of the year, if I keep up on the mental side, I’m going to be alright.”
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As for the swing that led to the pair of dingers, Flores lacks interest in tinkering with the recipe that’s consistently worked for him over the years.
“I’m not going to fix what isn’t broken,” Flores said. “I’ve swung it the past few years of my career, and I’m not going to change anything. I’m going to continue to do the same things and work on the mental side of hitting.”
While the offense remains consistent, Flores puts his focus on the defense behind the plate, and outside the lines where needed.
“Communication is the biggest thing,” Flores said. “When you’re able to sit down with a few guys, talk it out, and see what they’re thinking, (it’s good). The last thing you want is to go out in and game and not know something is going on.”
Carrying into the 2026 campaign, Flores looks to continue to build on what he worked on to wrap up last season.
“(Last season), I was more honed in on learning how to treat pitchers, learning how to create relationships with them, and get a sense of what they like to throw,” Flores said. “If I could see where their mind is at, how they are during the game, and how they are during their work, it was big for me, for sure.”
This work has paid dividends, as Ashcraft told SportsNet Pittsburgh in his on-field postgame interview that Flores “caught like a veteran” and pointed to the comfort and trust he’s instilled.
With Endy Rodriguez placed on the IL this week, Flores should get plenty of opportunities to prove himself and prove that the mental work he has done has paid off.
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