When you’re a quiet, unassuming kid it can sometimes be hard to stand out from a crowded pack.
Except when you’re a talented baseball player and your brother was drafted out of HS, as is the case with St. Dominic sophomore Mike Florides.
His brother, Andrew, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 27th round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of Holy Cross HS.
The 2019 grad recently transferred from Glen Cove HS and happens to be one of the smoothest infielders on the island. He stated that he emulates his play after Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs and you can see he possesses a similar flair.
While Mike always had the athleticism and baseball IQ, he was very small for his size. As recently as last spring, he was under 5’0″ which potentially could limit his ceiling as a player. Since that time, however, he grew close to 12 inches in one year and is now 5’10”. His father is 6’3″, so he still has some room to grow and stand out from the crowded field of middle infielders.
Teams are already beginning to take notice, though.
He has some notable Div-I schools interested in him–namely Penn State, Maine, Kentucky and Xavier.
The young SS is not allowing that to distract him right now.
“My main priority is school right now,” he stated. That was a major factor in transferring to St. Dominic HS, which is known for its academic prowess as well as an established baseball program on the island.
“It was a better fit,” said his father, George. “He understands the importance of getting good grades so he puts the work in.” He noted that they also preferred playing in a wood-bat league against a high-caliber of competition.
Florides spent the offseason working with Greg Thomson on his swing to become a more complete player. He has a very balanced swing, which should translate well at the varsity level.
He describes himself as a “gap-to-gap” hitter. He has also began to experiment as a switch-hitter, and the early results appear very positive from what I saw.
The most thrilling moment of his career came in 2013, when his 12U team went to Cooperstown and came in first place in a national tournament–a very rare occurrence for a New York team. His team holds the Cooperstown record for home runs by a team with 85.
Florides stated he is only concerned with wins this season and wants to win the CHSAA title with St. Dominic.
He will be a player to watch this year as they hope to get back to the top of the league without Kyle Young.
