Wicked? Yes. Wicked Awesome!
Michael Conforto just continues to look better and better the more he plays. Last night, he homered for the fourth time this season (second time at home) and finished the game going 2-for-2 with a walk.
His opposite field solo home run in the fifth inning gave the Mets the lead, and in fact, three of his four home runs have given the Mets the lead or tied the game.
Additionally, Conforto extended his on-base streak to 13 games dating to August 15 and he’s batting .368 (14-38) during the streak.
Remarkably, Conforto is now batting .293 this season with a .392 on-base percentage and .537 slugging. Always making the most of his playing time, in 29 games he has 21 runs scored and he already has a 1.3 WAR in his limited playing time.
That Conforto is able to produce numbers like this at the major-league level after having spent only 40 games above Single-A is a testament to the type of player this rookie is, and conjures up some incredible expectations for what he can do for the New York Mets moving forward.
“You just don’t see that type of jump,” David Wright told Newsday last week in Philadelphia. “Because you don’t see that type of maturity. You can tell he’s got that confidence, but he’s not cocky. And he’s going to get better and better. He’s the real deal.”
In an exclusive interview with MMO’s John Bernhardt, Mets GM Sandy Alderson told us why he believes Conforto is going to be a very special player for the organization.
“First of all, he’s a very polished and advanced hitter both from the standpoint of his mechanics as well as his approach.”
“One of the reasons that we were comfortable with promoting him from Binghamton, despite having very little experience above Single-A and no experience in Triple-A, was knowing that he had that solid approach from his amateur days and that it would serve him well and that he would be fine.”
“Conforto is a very mature player that fits in very well with any group, and he’s been taken under the wing of many of his peers at the major-league level who really like him. He’s done an excellent job for us.”
When asked how he has been able to maintain his success in the major leagues, Conforto said he tries to keep everything simple despite all the spreadsheets, spray charts, zone ratings, and other advanced statistical information he has been saturated with since his promotion.
“I had advice from people not to overwhelm yourself with that stuff,” Conforto told Newsday. “Try to keep it the same as you were doing in the minor leagues. Same sport. There’s just a little bit more information available here.”
One of the things that stands out already about this kid is his flair for the dramatic and for coming up big when the moment calls for it. He is 6-for-18 with runners in scoring position with 10 RBIs and a 1.180 OPS.
“My mindset is to go up there in those situations and just try to hit the ball hard somewhere and not try to do too much. It’s something that I take pride in, and I hope I continue to come up big in those spots in the future.”
As much as I love watching Conforto play, I’m also very taken by how he speaks with a maturity beyond his years, and the way he carries himself with such a confident demeanor in that clubhouse.
I’m so excited about what Conforto can be in the future for the Mets with that perfect and natural line drive swing of his.
He reminds me a lot of Will Clark when he first came up with the San Francisco Giants. They used to call Clark, “The Natural” and that’s exactly what I think of when I see this 22-year old step into the batter’s box.
Over the course of his career, Will Clark averaged a .303/.384/.487 batting line with 36 doubles, 23 home runs, 95 runs and 95 RBIs per season. And those are exactly the kinds of numbers I believe Michael Conforto is capable of producing once he reaches his prime years.
I may be getting a little bit ahead of myself here, but don’t I always? I really love this kid and I can’t help thinking that we struck gold here.
