Player Data: Age: 28 (3/1/1993), B/T: L/R
Primary Stats: 125 G, 479 PA, .232 BA, .344 OBP, .384 SLG, .729 OPS, 94 H, 14 HR, 55 RBI, 59 BB, 104 SO
Advanced Stats: 106 wRC+, 21.7% K%, 12.3% BB%, .276 BABIP, .350 xwOBA, 0.8 fWAR, 0.9 bWAR
2021 Salary: $12.25 million
Grade: C-
2021 Review
Michael Conforto may be on the right side of average with his 101 OPS+ this season, but his C- grade is warranted after a season in which he completely failed to play to expectations. In fact, Conforto ended up having his worst season since 2016 (his first full year in the big leagues) and now enters his first winter of free agency with Met fans having serious doubts if he should be re-signed.
After three consecutive seasons (excluding 2020’s COVID-shortened season) of hitting 27+ home runs from 2017 to 2019, Conforto managed just 14 round trippers this year. If we do want to include numbers from 2020, then Conforto hit an astounding .322 then. This year, his average dipped to .232. Across the board, Conforto’s numbers regressed – his decline is evident in where he was positioned in the team’s lineup. He batted 6th in the lineup 27 total times, the most of anyone on the team. In 2019, he batted 6th just ten times.
Conforto’s season got off to a promising start. After going 2-for-5 with a RBI on Opening Day, his batting average dropped to .211 by the end of April. Still, he collected five multi-hit games in the month, something to be encouraged about. Yet the power was lacking, with just one home run in the season’s opening month.
But the start of May saw Conforto turn a corner, albeit a small sample size. He began May with a two-hit, three-RBI game against the Phillies, including a home run. The following day, Conforto collected three hits, including another couple of RBIs. Yet the follow day through May 16, after which he went on the injured list, Conforto slugged a paltry .179, stringing together seven singles and nine walks, with no extra-base hits at all. A hamstring injury in mid-May kept him out of the lineup for over a month. When he returned on June 23, he made an impact right away, with a two-hit game that included his first double since May 1.
In July, a two-home run game in a thrilling win against the Reds did little to cover up the complete letdown of a month that it was for Conforto. He slashed .171/.292/.354, and by the time August rolled around, his season batting average had fell under .200.
He did provide one of the better Mets highlights of the season in an otherwise down month, though. On July 18 in Pittsburgh, Conforto blasted a two-home run in the 9th inning to give the Mets a 7-6 lead, in a game they had initially trailed 6-0. While it didn’t do much in terms of pushing the Mets into a needed winning streak, it was a significant win at the time.
August saw Conforto play better than he had up to that point, as he added 22 more hits to his season total, good for an average of .268 and an OPS of .876. He ended the month of a high-note with an August 31 home run against the Marlins.
September was all-in-all the best month of Conforto’s 2021 season, with a .359 on-base percentage. He recorded seven multi-hit games and even ended the year on a four-game hitting streak. Hitting a homerun in two of his last four games as well was a good sign for Conforto entering a long offseason.
Defensively, Conforto didn’t offer much of added value, as he recorded just one out above average while playing 100% of his innings in right field. He might even be better suited for a more consistent DH role, especially if that is added to the NL permanently in 2021.
2022 Outlook
This will be the most important offseason of Michael Conforto’s offseason thus far. Simply put, it’s because he’s a free agent for the first time in his major league career. The Mets have a big decision to make with Conforto; do they extend him a qualifying offer, or simply let him walk in free agency?
If Conforto’s offered the QO and he comes back to Queens for another season, it will give him an opportunity to take a giant leap after a rough 2021 before hitting free agency again. But jumping ship to another organization may ultimately be the right move for Conforto, who will likely still get a hefty contract from a team that believes his 2017-2019 type potential is still there.
In my honest opinion, I feel like too much is being made about Conforto’s disappointing 2021. Looking at his recent track record at large, a 127+ OPS in a five-year span is just too good to let walk away so quickly.
