Opposing runners picking on Jesús Flores?

Photo courtesy of Scott Ableman

It seems that the return of Jesús Flores from a major shoulder injury has not gone unnoticed by the opponents of the Nationals.

In what amounts to four games and some change of action behind the plate (42 innings), clubs have successful stolen five bases in five attempts against the recovering backstop.

To put that number into into context, the Nationals have used five catchers other than Flores in camp; Iván Rodríguez, Wilson Ramos, Derek Norris, Carlos Maldonado and Jhonatan Solano. The fearsome fivesome have combined for a total of 107.1 innings behind the plate. In those 107 innings, opponents have only attempted five stolen bases, successfully stealing three times.

In his three year career, prior to the debilitating shoulder injury that caused him to miss most of the 2009 and all of the 2010 season, Flores had thrown out 31% of all would-be base stealers.

It remains to be seen if Flores can return to his former status as a threat to gun down any and all that test him on the basepaths.