The Los Angeles Dodgers addressed an outfield need by signing Michael Conforto to a one-year, $17 million contract before agreeing to terms with Teoscar Hernández as well.
Conforto has been a productive hitter throughout his career but is falling well short of expectations in his first season with the Dodgers. The veteran outfielder enters Sunday batting just .163/.297/.269 with 14 extra-base hits and 13 RBI in 67 games this season. Conforto’s current 63 OPS+ would be the worst of his 10-year MLB career.
Conforto at times has shown glimpses of a potential turnaround, but can’t seem to keep the momentum. He is just 6-for-his-last-46 since the start of June.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged that Conforto hasn’t had the season anyone expected but believes he will bounce back in the second half, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
“To date, obviously, Michael hasn’t performed up to what he expected or we expected,” Friedman said. “But, watching the way he is working, watching the progress being made, I would bet that his next two months are way better than his last two months.
“Obviously, like we will with all of our players, we will continue to assess where they are. The important thing is, if we have an injury or (poor) performance, do we feel like we have different ways to maneuver? We do.”
Conforto has made an effort to improve his discipline and bat path, among other parts of his offensive game. The Dodgers have largely stuck with the 32-year-old to this point because of his solid track record coming into the 2025 season.
One of the biggest issues for Conforto has been catching up to fastballs, as his slugging percentage against the pitch is down nearly 100 points from the previous year.
“Probably just not getting to the heater. I think that’s probably the start of it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Conforto’s ongoing struggles.
“When you don’t hit the fastball, that starts to lend to a little cheating and chasing on spin. We’ve got to get him back to the heater, to the big part of the field. He’s working on that. He knows it. It’s not something he doesn’t know, he’s not trying to miss fastballs. So that’s probably the genesis of it.”
Will Hyeseong Kim replace Michael Conforto?
Conforto has received most of the starts in left field this season, but did not play in back-to-back games before returning to the lineup for the Washington Nationals series. Hyeseong Kim was the beneficiary as he started in final two games against the San Diego Padres.
“I see him playing a lot still,” Roberts said of Conforto. “I do think that in a meritocracy, Hyeseong has earned opportunities, and I don’t want to get him to lose his mojo and sit for four, five or six days, and expect good at-bats.
“So I think he’s earned the opportunity to get more of a consistent look, and we’ll go from there.”
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