Michael Conforto has been promising throughout his entire professional career. The Mets had so much confidence in his bat, that he was promoted to batting third in the lineup, meaning that he was in a prime spot to drive in runs, and get on base. Considering he only played in the minor leagues for two seasons, his ascension to the pros has been quite fast. Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen Conforto struggle a little bit, which may be part of the growing pains.
Hot Start to the Season
Conforto started off the season with a bang for his sophomore year, as he hit .365 in April, with four homers and 18 RBIs in 21 games. Pretty impressive start for the left fielder. Once the calendar turned to May, pitchers on opposing teams may have caught on to some of Conforto’s tendencies, and made adjustments against him. For this reason, he is hitting .160 during this time period.
Struggling Against Lefties
Last season, the Mets decided to enter a “win-now” mode, which meant that players would play to their strengths, and produce at a high level. Terry Collins decided to play Juan Lagares against left-handed pitchers, and shifting Yoenis Cespedes from centerfield to left field. With limited action against left-handed pitching, it seemed that Conforto may have been getting rusty against southpaws, and that it could carry into this season. In 25 at-bats, he is hitting .160 with a .192 OBP. His approach should translate into success against challenging lefties, but as of now, there is still plenty of work to be done.
In the Field
Usually it has seemed that Conforto can hold his own in his field, and that he has a great arm. This past weekend may have been an off weekend in Colorado for Conforto, as Gerardo Parra hit a tough liner off the bat, and the ball scooted past the Mets left fielder and ended up resulting in an RBI triple. This has not been a usual occurrence, but this could have been a result of Conforto taking his offensive struggles into the field. Of course, it is speculation, but these struggles could be taking a toll on the young outfielder.
While it is early in the season, the Mets may have placed too many expectations upon Conforto. After all, he is only 23 years old, and has had tremendous success offensively at every minor league level. Every athlete experiences bumps in the road, and this is going to be an interesting time to see how Conforto reacts to struggling. The Mets know they have a great contributor playing left field, and that he is going to be patrolling Citi Field for years to come. Maybe it would have been wise for the Mets to let Conforto get more at-bats in the sixth hole, and promote him once he was all settled in. Hindsight is 20/20, but the move to batting third may have caused the left-handed slugger to press a little more. Conforto will pick it up at some point this season, and he is going to contribute for years to come.
Don’t think so. Expectations are what we put on ourselves. If you don’t aspire, you don’t succeed. He has the ability to do it.
It’s called a Slump.
“Hindsight is 20/20, but the move to batting third may have caused the left-handed slugger to press a little more.” I think this statement is erroneos.
Conforto was moved to the third spot on April 15th and until April 30th proceeded to bat .407 with 4 homers increasing his OPS from .899 to 1.118. Many attribute his move to the third hole as a stimulus to the offense.
He then slumped for ten days.
Between May 10th and May 15th, Conforto has already “picked it up” as he has a .294 avg during this time frame. That is not bad for your three hole hitter and does not validate your statement.
Everything you said hit it on the mark.
The only thing is that you called it a slump, while i might call it a regression back to the norm.
He had an unsustainable .411 BABIP over the first month. This month, it’s at .212 which brings down his overall BABIP to a more normal .337