In a terrific sit-down with Justin Toscano of The Record, New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto spoke at-depth about his development as a ballplayer since being drafted by the Mets in the first round of the 2014 MLB draft, his approach at the plate in the days of advanced metrics, as well as what he expects from himself moving forward.
It’s been a bit of a wild ride for Conforto, but things are looking to be back on track heading into 2020.
After a breakout debut stretch in 2015, helping propel the Mets to a National League pennant and a disappointing sophomore campaign, the strides Conforto took in 2017 (.279/.384/.555, 27 home runs, 147 wRC+) did not fall on blind eyes. His battle back from shoulder surgery that September (torn posterior capsule, dislocated shoulder in August) was also in full view, but the young outfielder just kept grinding.
Conforto made his 2018 season debut in early April after then-GM Sandy Alderson gave a rough timeframe of a May return during Spring Training and the Washingtonian’s production at the plate took a slight downturn (.243/.350/.448, 27 homers, 130 wRC+). Though, by the end of the season, it appeared Scooter had returned.
With a .273/.356/.539 second-half slash line in 2018 (.981 OPS in September), Conforto came into 2019 healthy and ready to continue on his developmental path. From Opening Day through the middle of May, he was doing just that, slashing .271/.406/.521 over his first 180 plate appearances of the season.
After suffering a concussion on May 16 following a collision with Robinson Cano in shallow right field and his subsequent return from the injured list on May 26, Conforto entered a brief holding pattern — to be expected after being knocked unconscious — but regained his stroke in short order.
From his return through June 6 — 50 plate appearances — Conforto slashed .190/.300/.405. From June 7 through the end of the season, he hit .259/.352/.493. Safe to say Conforto’s trajectory is back on its initial path.
With free agency looming after the 2022 season and a considerable amount of expectations being placed on his shoulders heading into this season, 2020 is shaping up to be an important year for Conforto — both personally and team-oriented.
As told to Toscano, Conforto’s prepared for the challenge.
“[I’ll] just continue to work hard and just do what I’m capable of […] I think that’s most of the battle there is just having the confidence to go out there and feel like you’re a great player,” he said. “But also, I’m just more focused on trying to win games. Any time I can think of that I’ve played really well, everything hasn’t been focused on what I’m doing, it’s more enjoying the game, enjoying time with my teammates, and having fun out there.”
As for expanding his analytical horizons, Conforto admits “some [advanced statistics] I don’t understand”, though he has taken information delivered to him by the Mets front office — namely his current manager and former Mets quality control coach Luis Rojas — and translated it into his play on the field.
“[Rojas] was able to communicate to me that he wanted me to come play a little bit more shallow, and I’ve always been comfortable playing deep. But he was able to communicate that, ‘This is actually going to make you more comfortable. You’re going to be able to make more plays coming in on the ball.'”
Lo and behold, with a new resource in route-taking, Conforto registered +7 outs above average in right field (+6 OAA overall; -1 OAA in center field) last season — a career-high — with +2 OAA on balls to his left and behind him, respectively, and +3 OAA on balls in front of him.
Conforto’s +7 OAA ranked third among all qualified MLB right fielders last season and his metrics to his left and front were good for eighth and fourth, respectively, among the same group. This wasn’t a huge increase from the +5 OAA he racked up in 2018, but progress was certainly made.
As for his approach at the plate, Conforto’s taken notice of how pitchers attack him and developed a course of action to stay one step ahead of the competition.
“Early, they came hard in — that’s always been the book on me. Hard in then get me to chase away […] You just play that cat-and-mouse game where you start to cover what they’re trying to do against you, then they switch up the gameplan,” Conforto said. “But at the end of the day, you just have to be ready to get your pitch.”
Of Conforto’s 149 strikeouts last season, 86 of those came on pitches either on the outside corner or off the plate completely. Twenty-six of his 33 home runs came on pitches in the middle of the plate or on the inside half (and one near his toes; don’t ask me how).
The 27-year-old’s 27.7% opposite-field rate in 2019 nearly matched his career-best 27.9 percent mark in 2017, so he’s certainly doing all he can with outside pitches. But, as Conforto intimated, he’s gotta pick his spots accordingly. Clearly, coming to the ballpark with a plan of attack — and defense, in some cases — pays off.
Give Justin’s full interview with Conforto a read. Really insightful stuff.
