Conforto on early return: ‘I hope so’

PORT ST. LUCIE — Michael Conforto is trying not to look too far ahead. Rehabbing his shoulder from surgery, the Mets’ All-Star outfielder took another big step toward returning Friday and is hopeful he could be back before the soft target date of May 1.

“They don’t want me looking at May 1 this is the day I have got to be ready,” Conforto said. “It may be sooner, it may be later. So we take it one day at a time and work on things that way. I think that’s the best way to do it.”

When asked if it could be sooner, Conforto smiled and laughed.

“I hope so,” Conforto said. “We’ll see. Everything has been going well so far.”

Conforto took at-bats in a minor league game Friday, the first time he has hit in a game situation since last August. He went 0-for-2 with a fielder’s choice and two walks. He faced 22 pitches.

“It was good, it was a good first step, step in the right direction,” Conforto said. “It was good to see some pitches. I thought I swung at strikes, that was my one goal going in, making sure I am swinging at strikes — good habits from the beginning. Timing is a little off. That’s to be expected the first time out there.”

Conforto tore the anterior capsule in his left shoulder when he dislocated the shoulder during an at-bat last August.

“I don’t feel anything in there. I am not stiff in the morning. At this point, I am pretty much going through my normal routine in the cage and stuff,” Conforto said. “So it feels like it never happened, but I got to pay attention to it, be aware of it.”

There is some feeling among Mets personnel that Conforto will be ready sooner than May 1. The Mets, however, are sensitive to their reputation of handling injuries poorly, so they will be overly cautious with Conforto.

Saturday, Conforto is expecting to take more at-bats in another minor league game and possibly play the field. He needs the repetitive atbats to get comfortable at the plate and ideally would like to get some in a major league spring game next week.

“I don’t see it as absolutely necessary,” Conforto said of facing big league pitching this spring. “I would like to, that would be ideal.”

But, Conforto has learned not to look too far ahead or expect to progress too fast.

“It’s been tough, but I think I kinda expected it coming in, I knew I wasn’t going to have a normal spring training,” Conforto said.

“It’s tough, but it’s the way it is. It’s the situation, you have to go with it and make the best of it.”