As Michael Conforto walked over to the large media throng waiting by his locker Friday night, a slight smile appeared across his face.
After having to explain his deep slump to start the season and how much last year’s shoulder injury, which cost most of his spring training, had contributed to his slow start, this was a welcome respite.
“It feels like what I am used to, it feels like I’m in a good place at the plate,” Conforto said after notching the second four-hit game of his young career in a 3-1 Mets victory over the Diamondbacks. “I felt comfortable up there.”
Conforto recently has begun to resemble the player that reached the All-Star Game last year. In his past seven starts, he has multiple-hit games three times and has 10 hits in 28 at-bats. His batting average has risen 47 points, from an ugly .184 to a modest .231.
“I think all of us kind of saw this coming,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “You could see him coming out of it.”
Friday night, Conforto had a pair of opposite-field singles, hit an infield single up the middle and pulled another one. He drove in two runs, coming through in the clutch with two outs on each occasion.
“That’s when I’m at my best,” he said. “Hitting the ball where it’s pitched, I think that’s just the name of the game.”
Conforto couldn’t pick a better time to get hot. The Mets entered the opener of this series needing a lift, having lost 10 of 13 games. Their best hitter, Yoenis Cespedes, is on the disabled list with a right hip flexor strain. Another outfielder, Juan Lagares, is likely lost for the season after tearing the plantar plate in his left big toe. Conforto is set to play every day in center field, against lefties and righties, as will Jay Bruce in right and Brandon Nimmo in left, until Cespedes returns.
“We got to step up, the outfielders we do have,” Conforto said. “We had depth in the outfield. It’s coming in pretty clutch for us now.”
Conforto had a conversation recently with bench coach Gary DiSarcina about slumps, how they don’t happen right away and hitters don’t snap out of them immediately, either. It’s a gradual process. With that in mind, Conforto wasn’t ready to say he’s all the way back yet. But he isn’t overthinking his at-bats at the plate, and the results have been there lately.
“I feel like I’m in a good place,” he said.