Michael Conforto might be in the strangest situation a hitter could be in right now.
He is not exactly tearing the cover off the ball with a .209 average on the season to go along with only one home run and seven RBI in 67 at-bats.
However, it’s hard to say he is in a complete slump either as he a .372 OBP, which would be considered very good especially when compared to his average.
So, is he not playing well or is this just a lack of ability to make good contact thus far?
Well, there are reasons to believe it might be the latter.
For starters, Conforto has a strikeout percentage slightly over 24.4%. While that is not a good strikeout percentage by any means, that is actually a hair lower than his strikeout percentage in 2017 which was 25.7%.
Basically, he is striking out at virtually the same number he did in the past which means that cannot be the root of his struggles.
He also happens to be walking at a higher clip this year than he did last year (19.8% vs. 13%), which is strange because you would expect a struggling hitter to be able to get on base at such a high rate as hitters often start to chase pitches when they are in a funk.
Furthermore, his BABIP is not significantly worse in 2018 (.283) than it was in 2017 (.328).
That being said, the average is still a major concern. Why is he hitting .209 with similar statistics as compared to his All-Star 2017 season where he hit .279/.384/.555 with 27 homers and 68 RBI?
Well, it likely has to do with his lack of power. So far in 2018, Conforto’s isolated power is only .090 as compared to .276 in 2017.
It makes sense also when comparing his slugging percentage this year (.299) to his slugging percentage last year (.555).
The question remains, though, whether or not it is realistic to expect that to change.
Unfortunately, that answer is not that clear. When factoring in the other statistics by themselves, the answer would appear to be that the power will come around sooner or later.
However, he is coming off surgery to repair a torn posterior capsule in his left shoulder which raises the question whether or not he is fully healthy or if he is, whether his power might be diminished. This is especially worth considering when factoring in that he returned on May 5, over three weeks earlier than originally expected.
So, the answer simply isn’t clear whether or not this is who Michael Conforto will be going forward, or if this is just a player shaking off the rust early in the season.
Whatever the case, the Mets need to continue to give the 25-year old regular playing time in order to find out.
