Philadelphia Phillies: Michael Conforto can be the next Zack Wheeler
By Tim Boyle
The Phillies can sign Michael Conforto and solve a couple of their issues while sticking it to the Mets.
If you’ve followed Conforto’s career with the Mets, you may already know he’s a power-hitting corner outfielder with a tendency to put up above-average OBP numbers. His seven seasons with the Mets included a .255/.356/.468 slash line, 132 home runs, and 396 RBI. Any team could use an outfielder with numbers like these.
Conforto spent the early part of his career bouncing around all three outfield positions. It wasn’t until 2019 that he settled in as the team’s right fielder for good. Prior to that, left field was where he mainly played. Certainly not a Gold Glove-caliber player, Conforto isn’t a butcher either. And in a pinch, you can get away with putting him in center field.
The hype for Conforto began in 2015 when he came up midseason and helped get the Mets to the postseason for the first time since 2006. He had a horrific sophomore slump but rebounded nicely in 2017 with his lone All-Star season—which was then cut short due to injury.
Injuries haven’t been a major issue for him since, however. He played in 153, 151, and 54 (out of 60) games from 2018-2020. Last year, in a season where everyone seemed to get hurt, he did miss some significant time with only 125 games played. However, the bigger story was his performance and how uncharacteristically bad it was.
Conforto appeared to finally arrive in full force back in 2020. He hit .322/.412/.515 in the shortened season. The average and OBP were significantly higher than anything he had posted before. Unfortunately, his 2021 campaign was epically bad. In 479 trips to the plate, he battled to bat only .232/.344/.384.
Despite this, the Mets still did give him a qualifying offer when the season concluded. He rejected it quickly and went unsigned in the early stage of the offseason. Available for a team like the Philadelphia Phillies to snag post-lockout, he’s someone the front office should view as their big bat addition.