Jalin Flores

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #255 prospect in 2025 draft
  School: Texas Drafted/Committed: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 22.0
  
  Flores has been a high-profile shortstop and righthanded hitter dating back to his prep days. He ranked as the No. 114 player in the 2024 class as a draft-eligible sophomore with Texas, but announced his intentions to return to school and went undrafted. Instead of building on a solid 2024 campaign, Flores regressed as a hitter and slashed .239/.317/.491 with 13 home runs, a 22% strikeout rate and an 8.6% walk rate. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Flores is an aggressive hitter with a power-over-hit offensive profile and a pull-heavy approach. He’s plenty strong and can impact the ball with authority—with top-end exit velocities around 110 mph—but he also has real pitch recognition questions and often looks off-balance at the plate and expands the zone too frequently. Flores is a below-average runner who shouldn’t make too much of an impact on the bases, but is a reliable defender. He’s a gifted fielder who has fluid actions in the dirt with an advanced internal clock to go with a plus arm that he knows when to let fly. For years he’s faced questions about whether or not he would get too big or slow for shortstop, but has continued to look the part and should be able to stick there in pro ball. Flores benefitted from working with two-time gold glove shortstop Troy Tulowitzki with the Texas coaching staff.
• Ranked #73 prospect in 2025 draft
  School: Texas Committed/Drafted: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 22
  
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Flores ranked as the 114th player in the 2024 class after a strong year as a draft-eligible sophomore with Texas and seemed to fit as a solid top-five round shortstop with physicality, power potential and arm strength. Instead Flores announced he was going to school and went undrafted. Flores is an aggressive hitter who has a power-over-hit offensive profile and an aggressive, pull-happy approach with fluid defensive actions and above-average arm strength that should give him a chance to stick on the left side of the infield.
  
  
• Ranked #114 prospect in 2024 draft
  School: Texas Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 21
  BA Grade: 45/High
  Tools: Hit: 40. Power: 50. Run: 40. Field: 55. Arm: 60.
  
  Flores was a top-100 prospect out of high school in the 2022 class thanks to his smooth defensive actions, plus arm strength and power potential. He struggled as a freshman in 2023 when he spent time at third base, shortstop and DH and slashed just .175/.293/.311 with a 30% strikeout rate in 44 games. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound infielder cut his strikeout rate significantly in his draft-eligible 2024 season and hit .340/.408/.656 with 18 home runs and a 20% strikeout rate while also playing shortstop regularly. Flores’ jump in production has come with a much more aggressive approach. After swinging just 42% of the time as a freshman he upped that rate to 54% of the time this spring, which has potentially led to him jumping on more pitches he can do damage with to the pull side. Despite an improved strikeout rate, Flores remains an overly aggressive, pull-happy hitter who expands the zone too frequently and isn’t likely to be an average pure hitter because of that. Flores has fluid actions and reliable hands at shortstop, with plus arm strength that should keep him on the left side of the infield though some scouts expect him to outgrow the position and slide to third base.
• Ranked #89 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Brandeis HS, San Antonio Committed/Drafted: Texas
  Age At Draft: 19
  BA Grade: 50/Extreme
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 60 | Run: 50 | Field: 50 | Arm: 60
  A Texas signee, coming into the year the expectation was that Flores would head to Austin and then be a premium draft prospect a few years down the road. But a very strong senior season has him pushing into the draft range where it may be tough to turn down pro ball. Flores is a smooth, gliding shortstop with the soft hands, smooth actions and plus arm scouts covet. He isn’t particularly twitchy, but he has solid strength and the frame to grow into plus power that could handle a slide over to third base if he gets too big for shortstop. At the plate, Flores lowered his hand-set in his stance this spring. He shows solid timing and a simple, repeatable swing. He has the strength to drive the ball to all fields. Flores turns 19 on the first day of the draft, so he is old for the high school class. The general consensus seems to be that Flores is a solid third-round pick, but there are thought to be teams who would consider selecting him in the second round.