Sitting in the passenger seat of his hitting coach’s 2022 Honda Accord last year, Rafael Flores started suggesting ways that Kevin Martir could make his interior a little more stylish. “If you want to make the leather seats look really nice, you should get this,” Martir recalled Flores saying of some car-care product. “What made you think of that?” Martir, then the Yankees’ Double-A hitting coach, responded. Before Flores became a rising prospect in the Yankees’ system, the 24-year-old detailed cars for a friend’s startup company in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic robbed the catcher of a place to play, so Flores spent the year in an on-call mobile auto spa, driving to customers for car washes, customizations and more near his home in Anaheim, California. “It was just me and [my friend] grinding it out during that time. He’s gotten a lot better. He’s got a whole setup and everything now,” Flores said. “It was mobile detailing, so we were in a van driving to people’s houses.” Like his friend’s business, Flores has enjoyed a glow-up of his own over the last few years. Tall but skinny during his time at tiny Katella High School, Flores didn’t receive interest from any prestigious programs as a teen. Instead, stints at two California junior colleges, Cypress and Rio Hondo, bookended his time as a car detailer. “He calls himself a JUCO bandit,” Martir said, bringing up a popular term for talented but overlooked players like Flores. “He’s not used to all the flashy stuff. He has that chip on his shoulder, and he talked about it.” That chip didn’t stop growing following an All-State season at Rio Hondo, as Flores ventured to Alaska for summer ball in 2022. There, he sat in his room, watched the MLB Draft and expected his name to be called. That never happened. The last pick of the draft came with a feeling of dismay, but Flores barely had time to process his emotions before Yankees scout Dave Keith called. Keith had been watching Flores, and he wanted to make an offer of $75,000. A grateful Flores gladly accepted without hesitation. “I’m telling you, maybe 10 seconds later, I get a call from my scout,’” Flores remembered. “It was a rollercoaster of emotions. You go from, ‘Dang, I don’t get to play pro baseball’ to ‘they’re giving me a chance!’” The Yankees were the only team to make Flores an offer. He also attended workouts with the Dodgers and Braves, but he said those sessions “didn’t feel very serious.” Flores immediately made something of his opportunity, smacking two homers over four Rookie level games in 2022. His real introduction to pro baseball came the following year, however, when the Yankees assigned Flores to High-A Hudson Valley despite only having a handful of minor league contests under his belt. “We all kind of thought, ‘Let’s see what he can do,’ because he was age appropriate for [High-A], but he hadn’t really faced that type of pitching before,” Yankees vice president of player development Kevin Reese said. “But he’s done nothing but hit.” Reese is right about that. After slashing .259/.346/.367 with eight home runs and 41 RBI at Hudson Valley in 2023, Flores split his time between High-A and Double-A Somerset last season. He raked, hitting .279/.379/.495 with 31 doubles, 21 dingers and 68 RBI over 124 games. Flores is now the Bombers’ 10th best prospect, per Baseball America. His 2024 performance earned him the publication’s Yankees Minor League Player of the Year award, as well as an invite to major league camp this spring. While the Yankees recently reassigned Flores to minor league camp, he impressed big league coaches and will have another opportunity to do so when he plays in the second annual Spring Breakout game on Saturday. “He’s a pretty complete player for as young as he is. And as limited as his professional career has been, he’s pretty well-rounded,” said director of catching Tanner Swanson. “I’m not sure if he had realistic ambitions of being a major league player three, four, five years ago, but I’m sure he does now.” Added assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes, who took a liking to Flores last spring: “You could tell confidence and energy oozes from him by the way he goes about his business and his body language.” Dykes also said that Flores is “mature beyond his years,” an assessment others agreed with. As for the right-handed swinger’s skills, Dykes highlighted Flores’ pop and ability to control the zone, though there’s some swing and miss in his game. Behind the plate, Flores’ receiving, blocking and game-planning have earned positive reviews from coaches and minor league pitchers he’s caught. His inexperience and the Yankees’ catching depth prevented Flores from being a real candidate for the club’s backup backstop job this spring, “But he certainly could be,” Swanson said. “He’s that skilled.” Flores’ future may be 90 feet away from the plate, though, as he spent time learning first base last year, much like Ben Rice, another natural catcher. With a 37-year-old Paul Goldschmidt on a one-year deal and Austin Wells looking like the Yankees’ long-term catcher, first base could help one of the team’s other young receivers find consistent major league playing time sooner. “I love it. I’m a catcher. I’m handsy. So that transition is so easy. And I’ll take the at-bats, for sure,” Flores said of first base, echoing sentiments shared by Rice. “As long as I hit, I’ll find a position. Doesn’t matter where I’ll be. I’ll play anywhere, as long as I can play.” That Flores is even thinking about ways to expedite his path to The Show is a testament to how far he’s come since his brief draft day disappointment. Some, like Martir, feel Flores has already proven wrong those who passed him by. But even after a breakout minor league season and unexpected hype from prospects boards, Flores is still fueled by his lackluster pedigree. “I didn’t really come from a big school. I didn’t come from a big background,” he said. “I feel like my whole career, I’ve had that chip on my shoulder, and I use that to my advantage. I use it to motivate myself. I use it to fuel my game. “It sounds cliche, starting from the bottom, but I technically did.” ...read more read less