Mets 2015 first rounder Michael Conforto had another big game on Sunday going 3-for-5, with a home run and a walk. Today he was recognized as the Player of the Week by the Florida State League for the period of April 9-19.
Conforto has excelled through his first week-and-half with the Mets. In 11 games he has batted .366 with four home runs and 13 RBIs. He leads the FSL in homers, RBIs, total bases (29) and slugging percentage (.707).
He is fifth in batting average, second in OPS (1.167), third in walks (eight) and third in on-base percentage (.460).
Conforto is in his first year of full season baseball. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the first round (10th overall) out of Oregon State last summer.
We asked Sandy Alderson about Conforto before the season in an exclusive interview, and he was extremely high on him even tipping us off that he would move quicker than any previous draft picks.
“Since I arrived in New York, he’s the first first-round pick out of college that we’ve drafted. Our other three had been high school players. So I do expect that he’ll move a little more quickly. We did get him to Savannah for the playoffs late in the season this year. So I would expect that he’ll move more quickly than some of our other top draft picks have certainly.”
Conforto was assigned to Advanced-A St. Lucie and skipped past Savannah to begin this season and it won’t be long until he advances to Double-A Binghamton.
Another thing we learned from Sandy was a little bit about his background and personal life and how important those traits were to the Mets GM.
“Michael comes from a very athletic and competitive family. His father, I think, was a linebacker at Penn State. He played football there. His mother is a former Olympic athlete — a medalist in synchronized swimming. So he comes from a very athletic family. He’s a great kid, very humble and committed to the game and has interacted with fans — I think a terrific individual, and an outstanding hitter.”
After Conforto’s Brooklyn Cyclones pro debut, Conforto impressed many with his performance and work ethic.
“A left-handed hitter, power is probably not his foremost quality. He’s got some, but he’s more of a gap-to-gap guy — high average, high on-base percentage — and a pretty good defender, which was not his reputation coming into the draft. But based on the time he spent in Brooklyn and then Savannah, our guys were very pleased with him defensively. He’s kind of an all-around player, and we do expect that he’ll move very quickly.”
While covering the Mets in Port St. Lucie, MMO was on hand when Michael Conforto had a spectacular game in his Grapefruit League debut. Conforto went 3-for-4 at the plate with two singles, a double and three RBIs. After the game, manager Terry Collins, who had never seen Conforto before, spoke to reporters and said he was beyond impressed with what he saw, “that was a heck of a first impression.”
“He’s got a short swing, he’s got a quick bat through the strike zone. It’s the first time I’ve seen him. But, for sure, he’s got one of those really nice swings,” Collins said.
“You saw during each at bat, they would throw him something off speed and he would make an adjustment once he saw it. Good hitters can do that”
As I’ve said often on MMO, Conforto is going to be a special hitter that will play at an ALL Star level for many years to come. His fluid, compact and powerful swing is built for success and his ability to quickly adapt shows a maturity beyond his years.
