The Mets drafted Michael Conforto because of his prowess as a hitter and he has yet to disappoint since making his pro debut for the Brooklyn Cyclones last season and starting off his career with a 10-game hitting streak. He would finish his first year in pro ball hitting .331/.403/.448 with ten doubles, three homeruns, sixteen walks, and 19 RBI in 42 games in short season ball.
Conforto introduced himself to all Mets fans this spring when he got into 5 games going 4-11 with three RBI while showing his sweet left-handed swing.
With no need for him to go down to Savannah the Mets bumped him straight to Advanced-A St. Lucie where he dominated in the month of April hitting .313/.396/.566 with six homeruns and nineteen RBI.
On May 24th the Fort Myers Miracle decided he had beaten them enough (7 hits, 2 HR’s in last 3 games against them) and the best way to avoid similar results was to intentionally walk him three times that day. For some reason they chose to try pitching to him the next day and Conforto went 3-4 with a homerun and a double before being intentionally walked in his last at-bat.
Other teams started getting sick of Michael beating them, they started pitching around him leading him to his worst pro month of baseball hitting just .255/.328/.387 while walking nine times and getting HBP three times. Despite the May struggles he was still named a Florida State League All-Star and finished hitting .283/.350/.462 with twelve doubles, seven homeruns, and 28 RBI for St. Lucie.
On May 29th the Mets finally did what most fans and prospect gurus had been clamoring about for weeks and promoted the first-rounder to Double-A Binghamton.
All Michael has done since being moved up is hit .377/.482/.623 with seven doubles, two triples, two homeruns, and 12 RBI with a 14/17 BB/SO while reaching base in all 19 of his games for the B-Mets. Conforto also has an isolated slugging of .262 in AA something only 12 Major League hitters have accomplished this year in the big leagues.
Michael has also worked on his defense in left field which was a big topic of discussion when he was drafted. He has only one error in 59 games this year after making five in just 41 games last year.
Michael and I talked on Wednesday in Portland after watching him put on a power display in batting practice and here is our conversation:
MMO – First off I want to congratulate you on a great season and finally getting promoted to Binghamton.
Conforto – Thanks, just playing and coming out everyday like it’s the same! while trying to keep it simple. The day finally came and now here I am.
MMO – You started the year off really well in St. Lucie then the pitcher’s seemed to adjust to you or did they stop pitching to you?
Conforto – It was a combination of both, they started pitching around me a little bit and I started swinging at pitches that I normally wouldn’t if I was hitting well. Then they changed their approach to me by pitching inside more and I started swinging at those pitches which were low percentage for me, putting myself in a little slump.
But that’s baseball you know, those things are going to happen and I just had to find a way to work myself out of it which I did. I got in the cage and worked with my coaches and the hard work paid off. I got the call here with a spot open and have had a good start here too.
MMO – Now what adjustments have you had to make to pitching at the AA level?
Conforto – Just trying to stay simple, staying with the approach that I have and avoiding things I did during my first slump where I got out of my rhythm. It’s good to get that first one out of the way because you know you are not going to be hot all the time.
I need to just stick to the approach that gives me the best chance up there (at the plate), even if I’m facing a good pitcher. I need to make sure I am swinging at quality hitter’s pitches instead off chasing good pitcher’s pitches that way I have a better chance at the plate.
As far as adjustments I wouldn’t say I’ve have had to make many, the difference here (AA) is that the pitchers are more consistent, they make less mistakes and they can throw 3 or 4 different pitches for strikes. I need to make sure I’m keeping it simple here, it’s still baseball and its the same game. The consistency here might change but that doesn’t mean I have to change.
MMO – In St. Lucie you struggled against lefties but to start your career here in Binghamton you have faced seven left-handed starting pitchers in the first 10 games and you have obviously fared better. What do you think the reason is for that?
Conforto – I think it’s all part of coming up here (Binghamton) with a fresh start that allowed me to get back into what I was doing to start the season and in spring training.
I don’t think it was actually a lefty/righty thing as much as just getting back to my approach. I have never had a problem facing lefties, I have always felt comfortable against them it’s not like when I see that a lefty is throwing I say oh crap. I treat it the same way and now that no matter what hand they throw with as long as I keep my approach the same I have a good chance
MMO – When you were drafted there were a lot of draft experts that said you were below average defensively in LF and you might not stick there. Having watched you it seems like you have worked on your defense and throwing while improving both.
Conforto – I knew the criticisms, I had heard about them and the coaches here talked to me about it. I have put work in with them (coaches) and the best time to do it is in batting practice so you can get live reads off the bat.
Getting myself into the right position to throw was a big thing for me that helped me start throwing guys out (6 OF assists this year) and be more accurate. It’s just something that I had to work on, I had to be out there everyday playing and its incredible what hard work can do for you.
MMO – How much attention do you pay to the big club and fans wanting you to come up now? Do you pay attention to all the social media?
Conforto – I get sent stuff from my grandfather who is so into that stuff, he keeps up on everything and knows about anything that comes out. He will send stuff to my dad and he is careful about how much of it he sends to me. I try not to pay too much attention because it doesn’t have too much control on what is going to happen. All I can control is the way I am playing and to keep showing up to the ballpark everyday.
MMO – What do you think you need to improve on to become a better player and to make it to the big leagues eventually?
Conforto – I think I need to be more consistent at the plate to try and avoid slumps like I had in St. Lucie. I also need to continue to work on my defense and putting myself in good positions to make plays.
I also need to work on my baserunning like taking extra bases, knowing when to be aggressive because it’s small things like that which separates the guys here (AA) from the guys playing in the Majors.
MMO – Thanks Michael, good luck this year and hope to see you in New York soon.
Michael went and signed some autographs as we were getting ready to start our interview, he also went back over to sign more afterwards. Kids were yelling for him the whole time during the interview and he signed for each one. After the game he was also the only guy to sign for kids right beside the dugout which is pretty unusual to do at that ballpark. He also made it a point to come over during batting practice to say hello to me and shake my hand.
I covered Binghamton when they were in Portland last month and it was completely different this time, the team had a different feel to it. The other players know that Conforto is/will be a star, they stood around batting practice watching as he hit mammoth homeruns just laughing at the ridicolous distance on some of them. At one point a teammate turned to me and said “this guy is a f**** joke” because he just hit one completely out of the park.
Before both games I was able to talk to multiple scouts that were there watching the Mets. They were impressed with the power/swing from Conforto. One scout did say that he needs more work on his defense but when I asked him if Conforto could hit in the big leagues right now he said “Yes, I don’t see why not”.
The Mets say they are not considering a promotion to the big league team for Conforto according to Mike Puma of the New YorkPost. But that’s okay with Michael who is only focused on improving his performance and becoming the best player he can be. We all wish him well.
