New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto, fully healed from his early March oblique injury, spoke with the team’s reporters on Saturday from Citi Field and shed an encouraging light on what’s expected to be a unique season for the 27-year-old and for the Mets.
As for a return to baseball operations amid the ongoing COVID-19 global health crisis, Conforto admits, “There’s a lot of question marks coming in,” but he’s comfortable with the route the Mets have taken to curb the risks involved with their return.
“I can tell you, we’ve kinda gone above and beyond what MLB has mandated. As far as [Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen] being around to remind us six feet apart, he likes us to stay more like 10 feet apart, making every effort to not have a point of contact tracing.”
When asked about the string of players testing positive across baseball as camps open up – including the Braves’ Freddie Freeman, Touki Toussaint, Will Smith, and Pete Kozma on Saturday – Conforto seemed keenly aware of the situation at hand, as well as its repercussions.
“All of us understand what a positive test does. Really, it’s gonna shut you down for something like three weeks. Obviously, it’s something we worry about so that’s kinda the reason we’re going above and beyond on these protocols.”
“I did see some big names in there. Really, anybody in our family who gets it, we feel terrible for. But it’s kinda coming down to this is a big part of the season where, you know, the healthier a team can stay, really, really increases your chances of winning games when we do get to the season.”
“We have to be really vigilant, we have to be really responsible, and make sure we have all our guys out there when the time comes. It reinforces – I mean, yes, it’s scary – but we know what we’re getting into. We’re well-aware of the risks […].”
Despite new guidelines to make player and staff safety paramount as facilities re-open, Conforto lauded the league’s – as well as his teammates’ and the Mets staff’s – attention to detail regarding adhering to the rules and making players feel safe at all times.
“[Self-policing among players and staff] might be the biggest key to this entire thing. It takes one poor choice, one lapse in judgment to create a big outbreak,” Conforto said. “We’re trying to hold each other accountable but also make it fun.”
“We have an opportunity that’s unique. There are some risks, but we’re in it together. So anything we can do together, we can kinda find the silver lining and try to make it fun,” he said. “We’ll be giving each other crap whenever somebody gets too close or is doing something they’re not supposed to be doing.”
Conforto stayed busy during the shutdown, taking “a lot of cage swings” while staying in Arizona (“I got out of there before it got too bad”), comparing this unprecedented pause to a “strange offseason.”
As the Mets’ union player representative, Conforto expressed great relief that an agreement to play the 2020 season was made, though he did admit the proceedings were indeed “stressful at times,” even joking with Mike Puma of the New York Post that he was “kinda excited” he wouldn’t have to address those talks anymore.
“A lot of it was really me just relaying information to the guys and trying to make sure that everybody was informed and then we would just take the group decision; everything was about unity as players,” he said. “I’m looking forward to just moving forward and focusing on baseball.”
Regarding future negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA – the current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2021 season – Conforto was hesitant to pinpoint the current mindset and future friction between the two parties, expressing a strong desire to focus on the task at hand, instead.
“It’s tough for me to comment on the mood moving forward. I personally have put those negotiations in the background. From the point of [MLB commissioner] Manfred putting the season in and really setting the wheels in motion, that was kind of a point for me to just lock it in and start focusing on baseball wholeheartedly.”
“It’s really hard for me to comment on what’s going to happen after the 60-game season or what’s going to happen a year from now, but I will say it showed me the power of our union.”
“The unity of the players as we went closer and closer and closer to this 60-game area that we ended up in, the guys just kept getting more and more unified. It was kind of incredible to watch.”
“Speaking for the Mets in general, we became more unified, but also player leadership on those calls and the union, as a whole. I’ll speak to the unity. I can’t really speak to what the mood is going to be moving forward. All I can tell you is that I’m happy that it’s over and that we’re focusing on baseball.”
Also for the Mets in general, Conforto thinks the designated hitter being added to the National League could be “huge” and points to Yoenis Cespedes and J.D. Davis as “forces in the lineup,” and Dominic Smith (“a great hitter”) who could see more regular at-bats and added value with the adoption.
Following his return from a concussion on May 26 last season and light years ahead of his major shoulder injury suffered in August 2017, Conforto hit .252/.346/.484 with 24 homers, 20 doubles, and 71 RBIs over his final 468 plate appearances.
That’s solid, but with lofty goals on the not-so-distant horizon for the Mets and Conforto (he’s a free agent after the 2021 season), the Oregon State alum likely expects more from himself and his newly-galvanized teammates his year.
