Conforto finding his rhythm in the big Citi

The road to a career in the major leagues is often a windy one filled with potholes, road blocks and detours along the way that cause players to survive and adapt as they climb up the ladder to achieving their dreams of becoming an everyday major league player. Even upon arriving in The Show, players must continue to adapt to the ever-changing climate of the game itself with increased scouting capabilities lending themselves to teams better assessing their opponents.

Michael Conforto has been adapting to these types of situations his entire baseball life so it’s no surprise that the talented lefty with the sweet swing has been able to turn the tide back in his favor in 2017.

“I think going through what I went through last year was definitely a learning experience for me,” said Conforto. “I definitely went through some things that allowed me to grow not only as a player but as a person.”

“I wanted to make it a point of growing from that and using it as a positive.”

That’s a motto that has stayed with Conforto over the years. Entering his freshman season at Oregon State in 2012, Conforto didn’t have a defined position on the team after being predominantly a shortstop during his time at Redmond (Wash.) High School.

Oregon State’s infield was filled with upper classmen and Conforto was given a plethora of glove options when he arrived on campus in the fall. He was gifted a third baseman’s glove, an outfielder’s glove, a first baseman’s glove and even had some reps at catcher. Conforto actually sat the first three games of his collegiate career in 2012 before he made his first start in the outfield since the 2004 Little League World Series.

Fittingly, Conforto homered in that game vs. UC Santa Barbara for his first collegiate hit and Oregon State head coach Pat Casey said he never came out of the lineup after that game.

However, he still needed to master the craft of being an outfielder, something that Mets fans can attest Conforto does much better than scouts give him credit for but it didn’t always start that way.

“I kind of started the game with the reputation of not being able to play the field,” Conforto said. “Once I developed that — that reputation of not being that great in the outfield — I took that to heart.” Sound familiar?

Casey said that Conforto spent countless hours in the outfield shagging fly balls, learning how to read balls off the bat and working on his throwing mechanics.

Later in his freshman season, the work had paid off when he made a game-saving play in the “Civil War” game with in-state rival Oregon. The Beavers led by one but the Ducks put a runner on third with only one out. The Ducks’ Ryon Healy hit a ball to left that was falling fast and Conforto came in, made a shoestring catch, and then fired home to cut down the runner at the plate to seal the win.