Conforto, Mets hoping homer is positive sign

It is probably foolhardy to believe one hit can change the course of a hitter’s season. But in a game so mental, where failure at the plate is commonplace, it’s hard to blame a player or a team for wishful thinking.

For Michael Conforto and the Mets, they hope his threerun home run in the fifth inning of their 7-4 win Saturday over the Nationals is that hit that can get him going like he was last year, when he was an All-Star before undergoing serious shoulder surgery.

“Really, I’m just trying to be on time with everything,” Conforto said. “That means hitting the ball where it’s pitched, that means spraying it, doing all the things that I did last year to be successful. I think it just puts me in a better position to have more consistent at-bats, swing at better pitches. So that’s what we’ve been working on.”

After going 1-for-3, Conforto has a .218 batting average, .345 on-base percentage and .370 slugging percentage through 84 appearances, a far cry from the All-Star form of yesteryear, when he slashed .279/.384/ .555 with 27 home runs.

His home run on Saturday was his 11th of the season and his first since June 26. He had as many RBI Saturday (three) as he did over his previous 15 games, over which he went 7-for-48 with one extra-base hit.