SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – San Francisco Giants infielder Wilmer Flores was selected as the winner of the 2022 Willie Mac Award, the club announced today.

The Willie McCovey Award is an annual honor bestowed upon the most inspirational player on the team, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff, clubhouse staff and the fans. This season marks the 42nd anniversary of the award, which was established in 1980, in honor of legend and Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. Engraved on the plaque that Flores received are the words “Competitive Spirit, Ability and Leadership” to characterize the qualities both McCovey and Flores exemplify.

Flores, who is in his third season with the Giants after signing as a free agent prior to the 2020 season, currently leads the team in games played (146) and extra-base hits (47) while he is tied for the team lead in RBI (70). His 19 home runs, 27 doubles, 117 hits, 56 walks and 69 runs scored are all second-best on the club. The 146 games played, 69 runs scored, 70 RBI, 47 extra-base hits, 19 home runs, 27 doubles and 56 walks are all career bests for Flores, who is in his 10th MLB season.

The 31-year-old’s 13 go-ahead RBI this year are fifth-most on the club while his seven game-winning RBI are tied for fourth-most. Nine of Flores’ 19 home runs this season helped give the Giants a lead or tied the game (six go-ahead homers and three game-tying homers). He also slugged his fifth career walk-off homer (first as a Giant) on September 4 vs. Philadelphia.

The Valencia, VZ native thrived with runners on the bases this year, slashing .286/.354/.524 with 63 RBI. 12 of Flores’ 19 home runs this year came with at least one runner on. More specifically, with runners in scoring position, Flores batted .291 with a .941 OPS and 52 RBI.

Defensively, he played all around the infield, logging 59 games at second base, 43 games at first base and 33 games at third base.

Listed below are the “Willie Mac Award” winners:
1980 Jack Clark
1981 Larry Herndon
1982 Joe Morgan
1983 Darrell Evans
1984 Bob Brenly
1985 Mike Krukow
1986 Mike Krukow
1987 Chris Speier
1988 Jose Uribe
1989 Dave Dravecky
1990 Steve Bedrosian
1991 Robby Thompson
1992 Mike Felder
1993 Kirt Manwaring
1994 None
1995 Mark Leiter
Mark Carreon
1996 Shawon Dunston
1997 J.T. Snow
1998 Jeff Kent
1999 Marvin Benard
2000 Ellis Burks
2001 Mark Gardner
Benito Santiago
2002 David Bell
2003 Marquis Grissom
2004 J.T. Snow
2005 Mike Matheny
2006 Omar Vizquel
2007 Bengie Molina
2008 Bengie Molina
2009 Matt Cain
2010 Andres Torres
2011 Ryan Vogelsong
2012 Buster Posey
2013 Hunter Pence
2014 Madison Bumgarner
2015 Matt Duffy
2016 Brandon Crawford
Javier Lopez
2017 Nick Hundley
2018 Will Smith
2019 Kevin Pillar
2020 Mike Yastrzemski
2021 LaMonte Wade Jr.
2022 Wilmer Flores