Top prospects Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo represented the New York Mets very well on Sunday during the 2015 MLB Futures Game which saw the USA team beat the World team 10-1 at Great American Ballpark.
Showing off his electric bat, Conforto stroked two line drive singles to center and right in his two at-bats. But he also impressed in the field when he showed off his cannon and fired a throw to the plate to nail a runner in the second inning.
Asked if he thought he was big league ready, Conforto smiled and said, “I feel ready. I feel I am confident.”
“I think there are some things I need to work on. I need to get better in the outfield. My approach needs some work. I have to be able to adapt quicker, as quick as possible.”
“But every day I play in the minor leagues, I am getting better,” Conforto said. “The people who make those decisions, they will let me know when they think I am ready. And then I will be ready to go up there.” (Daily News)
Last week, Mets GM Sandy Alderson told reporters that the team had considered promoting Conforto, but that it’s unlikely that it will happen in the near future.
“At this point, he’s still in Binghamton and I would expect him to be over there for the near term,” Alderson said.
Conforto is batting .312 with a .394 on-base percentage and a .869 OPS in 37 games with Double-A Binghamton. He has ten doubles, two triples, and three home runs in 160 plate appearances while scoring 17 runs and driving in 21.
Joining Conforto at the Futures Game was B-Mets teammate Brandon Nimmo. The two 22-year old, lefty-hitting outfielders have struck up a great friendship.
“We’ve definitely developed a friendship,” Nimmo said. “It’s great to have someone similiar, to learn with, to see how they are going to pitch us and talk about things with.”
“We have been able bounce ideas off each other a lot,” said Nimmo, who was making his second Futures Games appearance.
“We are a little similar. We both hit from the same side of the plate, similar approaches to the game. With that, we’ve developed a relationship on the field and off the field too, because really our lives revolves around baseball.”
Nimmo, the Mets top pick in the 2011 Draft, went 1-for-2 with an RBI on Sunday. He’s batting .289 for Binghamton with a .351 on-base percentage. In 248 plate appearances he has 11 doubles, two triples, two home runs and 13 RBIs.
