The Los Angeles Dodgers bolstered their outfield by signing Michael Conforto to a one-year, $17 million contract during the offseason, and he has since become the team’s starting left fielder.
Conforto is a former first-round draft pick who enjoyed success with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants before joining the Dodgers. He is known as a bat-first player and never posted an OPS+ below 95, which came during his first full Major League season in 2016.
Conforto, however, got off to a poor start at the plate with the Dodgers. He was recently mired in a 1-for-40 slump and expressed frustration with his performance after grounding into an inning-ending double play against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a key at-bat last week.
The 32-year-old has fared much better offensively since then as he is 6-for-10 with four extra-base hits over his last three games. That includes a three-double performance against the Athletics on Tuesday.
“I think the swing is getting a lot better, I think he’s getting started a little bit earlier,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Conforto’s success.
“Caught three barrels tonight. I’m just impressed he kept his head down while going through this thing for the first five weeks of the season. I think he’s really starting to gain some confidence now.”
Conforto was one of the only bright spots for the Dodgers as he contributed three of the team’s eight hits in an 11-1 loss at Dodger Stadium. Will Smith also had three hits.
“Not good,” Roberts said of the Dodgers’ overall performance. “I thought as far as collectively, this is as forgettable as a compilation of team offense as we’ve seen in quite some time.
“Outside of Will and Michael, there wasn’t much else. We’ll respond tomorrow. We’ve got Yamamoto going, we’ve got all the guys in the ‘pen ready to go. Tonight is one I just want to turn the page on.”
Michael Conforto ‘unlocked something’ with swing
Roberts recently shared that he was optimistic Conforto would soon get back on track, noting adjustments he made to his swing with Dodgers hitting coaches.
Conforto has been making hard contact with more consistency and now carries a three-game hitting streak going into Wednesday’s matchup against the Athletics.
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