YOUNG & FOCUSED
Met rookie impressing with ability to focus after failures
Conforto rebounds from in-game failures to deliver in No. 3 hole for Mets
THE BEST snapshot yet of Michael Conforto and his remarkable potential perhaps came in the sixth inning of the Mets’ victory over the Reds Wednesday. After three at-bats of failure — he left six runners on base with a strikeout, foul out and groundout — Conforto drilled a two-run double the opposite way.
The hit prompted a revealing exchange between Terry Collins and Mets’ bench coach Dick Scott.
“Dickie Scott said to me during the game, ‘He’s learning from each and every at-bat,’” Collins recalled. “He’s not letting it affect him.
“We talked about frustration. Early in the game, he had a chance to drive in some big runs and didn’t do it. But you didn’t see him get rattled. He didn’t come back and slam his helmet into the rack. He just put his bat away because he’s not shocked by what he’s been placed into here.
“I don’t think he’s overwhelmed by what we’re asking him to do and that showed in that last at-bat. He walked up there and got a big hit against someone he’s never faced. I think that’s the kind of hitter he’s going to be.”
So it was another good night for the outfielder who just turned 23 in March, who has all of 87 games of big-league experience, including last year’s postseason. The lefty-swinging Conforto is already thriving batting third in the Mets order against righties, and he batted cleanup Tuesday against Reds’ lefty Brandon Finnegan.
Since he moved i nto such lofty lineup slots, Conforto has gone 17for-45 (.378) with seven doubles, three homers and 10 RBI over 12 games. Wednesday, he tied his career best by reaching base for the 15th consecutive game.
“I feel very, very comfortable,” Conforto said. “I feel relaxed at the plate. I’m getting some good swings off. (Wednesday night) was a little bit shaky at the beginning, but I do feel confident if there’s a pitch left over the plate that I know I can get to, I feel confident I can put the barrel on it.”
As for his cool at the end of a night when another player might have dwelled on not getting the job done earlier, Conforto can’t exactly explain it. But he knows he can’t “ride the roller coaster” and maybe that’s part of why he came through against Cincy right-hander Drew Hayes.
“I pride myself on being a person who doesn’t get too up or down depending on how I’m playing, and I think that’s just a product of how I’m playing,” Conforto said. “It’s easy to do that with this group of guys. Nobody gets on you. They understand if you don’t get the job done that they’re going to pick you up. I think it’s an environment where it’s really easy to have that attitude.”