‘It’s not going to be given to us’
Conforto: Mets are special, but that’s not enough
Michael Conforto has seen plenty of Mets teams through his six years in the big leagues. He saw a strong team as a rookie in 2015, when the Mets ended their season with a division crown and lost to the Royals in the World Series. Then he saw back-to-back fourthplace finishes in 2017 and ’18 as the Mets struggled to overcome injuries. But this 2021 squad?
“I think this is the most talented team that we’ve had in a long time,” Conforto said.
Amid all the buzz and high expectations for a 2021 team that will feature a killer, relentless lineup and one of the best pitchers in baseball leading a dominant rotation, Conforto is decidedly wary of falling into the hype trap. He wants his teammates to act like underdogs instead of boasting about their obvious talent.
“It’s easy to see the talent that we have, but I think it’s important that we don’t allow that talent to be our worst enemy,” Conforto said. “I think a lot of times, talent can make you complacent. … There always seems to be this hype around either the pitching staff or the young hitters that we have — whatever it may be. It’s not that we didn’t work hard, but you can fall into this mode of thinking that you’re better than you are.”
Conforto broached that subject with manager Luis Rojas as he was packing up his locker at the end of the 2020 season. The Mets finished in a tie with the Nationals for last place in the NL East. Their overall defense ranked among the bottom five in MLB. Their young core of hitters formed a powerful unit, but the Mets still didn’t qualify for expanded playoffs – when more than half the league made it in.
“We just started talking about how good we could be this year,” Conforto said. “I just said that, I hope we understand that just because we had a great year offensively last year doesn’t mean we’re going to come out here and repeat that. We need to stay hungry. We didn’t do enough. We didn’t play defense well enough, baserun, pitch well enough.
“We have to go out there and work hard ... It’s not going to be given to us.”
Over the first couple days of camp, Conforto reemphasized to Rojas some of the main points of their conversation from last year. Rojas said Conforto bringing up that discussion again helped the manager prepare his team for the season ahead.
“For me, it was inspirational,” Rojas said. “The angle he had on some of the things we needed to do, he talked a lot about how not only being talented is enough in this game. You could tell he was really emotional.”
Conforto, 27, has grown into a leader within the clubhouse in what seems like a short amount of time. Across his six years in the major leagues, he’s produced a .843 OPS and remains one of the lineup’s best hitters. He becomes a free agent after the season and the Mets will try to extend him (no, Conforto said, those conversations have not yet begun) so his voice can be heard for years to come.
Especially in the past few years, Conforto has become more confident with his approach and role on the team. He thinks that could be a factor of being in the organization since 2014, when the Mets drafted him out of Oregon State University in the first round. He said, “It’s been really cool to kind of grow up a little bit in the organization” and he’s learned how to be a leader from watching some of his former teammates, like Daniel Murphy, take the reins.
“The player, the man he is right now at a young age, his behavior, the way he carries himself in the clubhouse and out on the field, his love for this organization, you can see it,” Rojas said. “This guy is a great leader. Being homegrown, you can tell he cares T so much for this team.” he key to the Mets “staying hungry” will be leadership, Conforto said. Veterans on the team can help keep some of the younger players on track. Conforto shouted out Francisco Lindor as having many of those leadership qualities. Jacob deGrom puts on a clinic every time he takes the mound and is a huge, valuable asset for the pitching staff. The blend of veterans and the young core on the Mets should, in theory, help them reach that desired balance of staying energetic and working hard while remembering that the season can be successful if they reach the playoffs.
“There’s been enough talk about what our expectations should be,” Conforto said. “I think the most important thing is we go out there and we work hard, we take it day by day.”