Over at the Crawfish Boxes today, they had a good post on the role that luck plays in teams season. They mention player development as one area where luck comes into play. That got me thinking about how luck has played into former G-Stros history. the recipient of the most good luck was J. R. Towles. I wrote about his up and down journey last year so I won't belabor the point here.
As for the former G-Stro with the worst luck, I have to say it was Josh Flores. Flores was the 4th round pick in 2005 out of the same junior college program that produced a fellow by the name of Kirby Puckett. He came to Greeneville and hit an outstanding .335 and showed plus speed in CF and on the bases. He finished the year as the #8 prospect in the Appy, and the #10 prospect in the Astros organization that year. (Fail Alert: That Astros prospect list had Eli Iorg rated at #5 and Hunter Pence at #6). After doing adequate at Lexington as a 20 year old in 2006, he tears up Salem to start the 2007 season. That earns him a promotion to Corpus Christi where he struggles.
Enter the bad luck. During the off season, he steps off a curb and blows out his knee (one source reported it was both knees but I have never seen conformation). So he missed all of 2008. He comes back in 2009 and 45 games into that season, he suffers another knee injury that caused him to miss the rest of the season. In 2010, he came back and started at Lancaster but was released after he struggled to hit .220 and just before he was suspended 50 games for failing a drug screen for a drug of abuse. (That last part wasn't bad luck, that was bad choices).
Flores is still playing ball for the Indy League Joliet Slammers. You have to wonder what might have happened if he had not slipped off that curve.
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