Michael Conforto‘s slump has lasted longer than hoped and he continues to struggle, as evidenced by his 0-for-5 performance against the Colorado Rockies in which he struck out four times to earn himself the “dreaded” Golden Sombrero for the night.
While Conforto has been getting on base thanks to his 18 walks, he has a .187/.347/.267 batting line on the season with only one home run and six RBI. However, the outfielder gave off the impression that he is not too concerned after the game.
“It’s just a grind that it’s the beginning of the season. That being said, I don’t think I have 80 at-bats yet, so we’re not going into panic mode yet here. I think it’s something I can work through for sure.”
He does admit that this start is certainly disappointing, though, and that he’s really trying to get out of it.
“Obviously, this isn’t the way I wanted to start, but I’m just trying to grind through it. I’ve been coming every day, doing some extra stuff, just trying to work on being a little bit more consistent. You know, I think it’s part of the game. I’ve been through stretches like this before.
Conforto suffered a torn posterior capsule in his left shoulder last year that was expected to keep Conforto out until the beginning of May.
The 25-year old managed to recover at a faster than anticipated rate and ended up back with the club for the start of the Washington Nationals series on April 5, in which he homered in his first game.
Since then, however, he has not hit any home runs, which explains his low slugging percentage.
While it’s not time to panic, as Conforto mentions, there is reason to be concerned right now, as the injury he had is one that could alter careers and make it difficult for him to drive the ball.
The Mets will hope that his 0-for-12 stretch for the month of May is simply just a routine slump, but the longer this drags out, the more concerned the team will have to be.
