– UPDATE 6/22 (7:35 PM) –
Despite statements made earlier in the day by New York Mets acting General Manager Zack Scott, outfielder Michael Conforto was not activated from the injured list prior to Tuesday night’s game at Citi Field against the Atlanta Braves.
The Mets announced during tonight’s game that Conforto was not activated out of an abundance of caution because of the COVID-19 situation that resulted in Triple-A Syracuse’s game being cancelled Tuesday night.
The team said Conforto did test negative tonight, and he will be activated for Wednesday night’s game.
– ORIGINAL 6/22 (5:00 PM) –
It was announced just moments ago, via a report from MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, that right fielder Michael Conforto is expected to be activated off the injured list before Tuesday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves.
New York Mets acting general manager Zack Scott told reporters at Citi Field, “He’s doing great. He’s actually exceeded our expectations, hit all of our objective markers on his strength, his hamstring. He’s ready to go.”
Conforto last played on May 16th against the Tampa Bay Rays. In this game, Conforto tried to leg out a ground ball but he pulled up lame. It was later announced that he strained his right hamstring. Interestingly enough, this is very similar to what many New York Mets’ position players have done this season.
Before going on the injured list on May 17th, Conforto was slashing .230/.356/.336 with only two home runs and 13 runs batted in over 113 at-bats. He was batting as low .as .120 before starting to come to form before his injury.
According to Baseball Savant, Conforto was also playing a lot better than his statistics may have shown. His xBA of .275 is much higher than his actual of .230 indicating he may of been experiencing some bad luck pre-injury. During his rehab stint with Syracuse (AAA), he only played three games registering two hits over 11 at-bats.
Depsite Jonathan Villar seemingly re-injuring his prior ailing hamstring last night, the Mets position players are nearing full health. Jeff McNeil returned during yesterday’s double-header and the currently rehabbing Brandon Nimmo is reportedly nearing a return of his own.
Additionally, the Mets have seen the play of current right fielder and Conforto’s place-holder Billy McKinney drop considerably. After roaring out of the gate, McKinney is hitless in his last 10 at-bats, striking out five times. Over his last 11 games, he is batting a meager .090 with nine strikeouts.
Overall, the return of Michael Conforto should bring a much-needed boost to a currently dreadful Mets’ offense while giving the team more depth overall.
