Michael Conforto was drafted just 13 months ago, but has immediately become one of the Mets most exciting and highly touted prospects in recent memory.
It was only a year ago the sweet-swinging left-handed hitting prospect was tearing up the New York-Penn League with the Brooklyn Cyclones, posting an .851 OPS while hitting three home runs with 19 RBI in his first 42 games as a professional, seemingly moments after finishing his collegiate career at Oregon State University.
Now that he’s schooled the pitching-friendly Florida State League with the Single-A St. Lucie Mets and is owning the Eastern League with the Double-A Binghamton Mets, Conforto is beaming with a ton of confidence, so much so that he thinks his bat could play in the big leagues right now.
“Everyone’s going to compare themselves to those guys,” Conforto said at the Futures Game in Cincinnati on Sunday, according to David Lennon of Newsday. “Yeah, I’ve pictured myself as that person. And I do think I’m ready. But it’s not my call.”
Everywhere Conforto has gone, he has hit, and hit with maturity and dominance. There’s no question his bat has always been advanced for the professional level he’s played at. It gets to the point the opposition stops giving him pitches to hit, making it difficult at times for Conforto to remain patient, which is one of his trademarks.
But he has overcome those challenges and mastered every single test in his rise through the Mets system. He will return to Binghamton with a .312/.394/.475 line after going 2-for-2 with an outfield assist at the Futures Game at Great American Ballpark on Sunday.
But while Conforto’s confidence is growing and wants his taste at Citi Field, he respects the decision makers in the Mets front office with whatever the plan is for him going forward.
“I can’t make the decision to bring myself up,” he said. “Obviously, there’s people who think that I need more at-bats, and they could be right. They may not be. There’s opportunities out there. But maybe they’re not the best for me as a player and maybe they’re not the best for the Mets as a team at this point. All I can do is just try to be ready. And I feel like I am. But you can always be more ready.”
That plan, for now anyway, is for Conforto to complete his first full, long season with Double-A Binghamton, although Sandy Alderson acknowledged there has been discussions about calling him up in 2015. While he’s an exciting and somewhat unusual talent in the Mets system, he lacks a lot of professional experience so far. And while there has been vast improvements with his defense – which organization officials have been very impressed with – there’s still work for him to do in the outfield, and he knows and freely admits that. While there is an immediate need for offense (and an everyday player in the outfield) the big leagues, Conforto’s development will likely remain independent of those needs for the time being.
Besides, if the Mets called up Conforto now to start in left field, they’d be asking him to not only immediately adjust to this level but avoid any growing pains whatsoever and become to centerpiece and face of the Mets offense. While he is extremely talented, is he ready to do that in the heat of a pennant race on this stage? That’s not something that can be determined, and he could be premature in his ability to handle those kinds of pressures.
It would be one thing if the Mets were hitting, leading the charge in the division or Wild Card, and Conforto could come here as an injury replacement and have the opportunity to go through these growing pains without the need for dependence on his bat.
But things change based on needs, of course. And the needs in Las Vegas and the major leagues fluctuate on a daily basis.
Right now, those needs are going to allow Conforto to become the best possible player he can be for whenever his time comes.
This by no means suggests he’s incapable of being that guy. But to risk prematurely exposing and dwarfing the development of their most prized offensive prospect just isn’t worth the bet.
Not yet, anyway.
Just Mets 