Photo by Ed Delany
The New York Mets are kicking around the idea of putting Michael Conforto on the Opening Day roster in a pinch hitting capacity, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
“There might be some value to having Conforto coming off the bench and not having him play the outfield,” said manager Mickey Callaway. “(We) got to weight all that stuff right now.”
Conforto appeared in Friday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals in a designated hitter role and played outfield against St. Louis on Saturday.
He recorded one hit on Friday and two walks on Saturday with a run scored.
Conforto was projected to be sidelined until May 1 the earliest, but has made leaps and bounds in his recovery and is well ahead of schedule.
Callaway acknowledged this and despite his earlier remarks, admits Conforto may not be ready for Opening Day.
“At this point he’s likely to be on the DL when we break camp,” Callaway said. “I can’t say that for a fact but he’s not going to have played enough innings to go out there and probably be there Opening Day.”
With that being said, it may be shrewd for the Mets to break camp with Phillip Evans as the 25th man in a utility role than risk having Conforto come back to early and hurt himself.
