Michael Conforto was not healthy enough for major league pitching to start the 2018 season, that was clear early on, though he was able to fight through it and have an impressive second half (.895 OPS).
The 26-year-old is picking up right where he left off, and has shown why some were picking him as an under-the-radar MVP pick for 2019. Through 18 games, he’s slashing .324/.422/.634 with seven doubles, five home runs, 11 RBIs, and two stolen bases.
Conforto has already posted a 1.1 bWAR and 1.0 fWAR, which ranks him eighth and seventh among National League position players respectively. His 175 wRC+ ranks him ninth in the NL (right behind Jeff McNeil‘s 179).
One thing to keep an eye on his Conforto’s strikeout rate, he’s got it down to 20.5% after 24.9% in 2018 and 25.7% in 2017. He’s doing all of this while pulling the ball 50% of the time so far.
Digging even deeper and you see that Conforto is 6-for-16 with two doubles and two homers against offspeed pitches (as classified by BaseballSavant.mlb.com). That’s important to note because Conforto went 17-for-93 with only two doubles and four homers against offspeed pitches all of last season.
Conforto has been a big part of the Mets being the sixth highest scoring offense in baseball to begin the 2019 season, he’s looking like that type of bat that can anchor a playoff team.
