Rafael Flores Jr. goes 3-for-5, hits eighth homer

With the Brewers starting left-hander Kyle Harrison, O’Hearn will take a seat on the bench, and Rafael Flores will play first base while Henry Davis will catch and bat ninth. Brandon Lowe is in the lineup at second base, but he has moved down to fifth against the lefty.

They weren’t all hit hard, but having a perfect day while facing Jacob Misirorowski twice and then Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill is awfully impressive. Flores also went 2-for-3 throwing out basestealers. He’s hitting .275/.336/.508 in 131 plate appearances.

It’s his eighth appearance as a first baseman this year, but probably one of the last with Ryan O’Hearn activated off the injured list. Nevertheless, Flores has slugged .549 in his last 23 games and has worked his way into more playing time at catcher.

Flores’s homer left his bat at 108.6 mph and was projected at 434 feet. He’s just 3-for-29 with a 12/1 K/BB in his last eight games, but the power is still really impressive; he’s totaled seven homers in 86 plate appearances for Pirates.

Rodríguez underwent a procedure to address a labrum tear and won’t be cleared to resume baseball activities until at least March, which means he’s going to miss time at the outset of next season. The 26-year-old was showing some really encouraging signs at the plate before hitting the injured list earlier this month. His absence opens the door for Rafael Flores to continue playing regularly between catcher and first base into next season.

Flores had a pinch-hit homer batting for Henry Davis in the seventh and then tied the game with another solo shot off Kenley Jansen in the ninth. He’s now 15-for-48 with six homers in 19 appearances this season. His defense is rather rough and he made a throwing error during his brief time behind the plate today, but it seems like the Pirates need to start playing him fairly regularly to see if he can keep this up. Maybe that’s part of the thinking behind acquiring Christian Bethancourt; adding a third catcher would make it easier to start Flores at DH.

One of them was against position player pitcher Javier Sanoja, but it all looks the same in the box score. The other was off LHP reliever John King — both of them were pulled into left field. The former Yankees farmhand acquired in the David Bednar trade was hitting .200/.355/.360 before this effort and is at .233/.361/.567 with it.

With Endy Rodriguez (hip) headed to the injured list, the Pirates will simply use Rafael Flores Jr. as their backup catcher, so they can call up Brannigan as a reserve infielder. He has hit .217/.324/.447 with 14 home runs in 69 Triple-A games this season.

Henry Davis will catch in his place against the Mets. Rodríguez was also absent Friday, but that just seemed to be a day off. If Rodríguez lands on the IL, the Pirates will probably call up a non-catcher (most likely Tyler Callihan or Billy Cook) and let Davis and Rafael Flores Jr. split time.

Flores returns to Pittsburgh’s roster with Ryan O’Hearn landing on the injured list with a quad strain. The 25-year-old backstop hit the shelf with a concussion last week.