'A useful reset': How Giants O...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) – He's only 30 years old. He bats with his left hand. He has a lifetime OPS+ of 124, the same as Nolan Arenado and Rafael Devers, and he was a free agent this offseason. By their standards, a long-term centerpiece should be the subject of a bidding battle. Yet Michael Conforto was an exception.

The former New York Mets outfielder struggled in his first contract year in 2021 and did not play at all in 2022 due to shoulder surgery. The San Francisco Giants then signed him to a two-year, $36 million contract with an opt-out after Year 1 that he may exercise by hitting 350 times, hoping that despite losing out on Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, they signed a powerful focal point for their lineup nevertheless.

Conforto is already giving grounds for optimism. He has come out swinging in spring training, 17 months after his last action against major-league pitching. Conforto has three home runs and an overall line of.263/.318/.737 in seven games, striking out eight times and walking twice.

And, with the advantage of a longer memory, Conforto has performed admirably. Between 2017 and 2020, he was ranked among the best 25 position players in the game by FanGraphs WAR and pure hitting metrics, including winter standouts such as Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts, and Trea Turner. Throughout that time, Conforto batted.265, walked often, and hit 97 home runs.

Conforto's successful years were defined by his ability to crush fastballs, something he hopes to continue in 2023. During his down 2021 season, he slashed.232/.344/.384 despite maintaining good strikeout and walk rates, he noted he frequently got caught between fastballs and off-speed offerings. In 2021, his performance against heaters was a dramatic contrast to the rest of his career. He slugged.401 versus four-seamers and two-seamers that season after averaging.500 or greater in prior seasons. And he wasn't messing around. He just wasn't striking them hard enough.

Overall, his offensive production was still slightly better than league average according to the park-adjusted hitting metric wRC+, but it was a significant drop for a bat-first corner outfielder who'd been working his way up to a star's salary, reportedly turning down a long-term extension with the Mets.

In spring, Conforto has prioritized getting focused in on fastballs while regaining comfort in the outfield and throwing with the surgically repaired shoulder."For now, the idea is just to be on time to the fastball and work from there," he added. "That's always been my mainstay."

Recent experience suggests that the Giants could assist him in doing so. They handed Carlos Rodon a similar short-term deal when he shown injury-interrupted promise with the Chicago White Sox, and in exchange, they received a Cy Young challenger season before he signed a large contract with the New York Yankees.

You may recall that the 2021 club also had a batter returning after an unforeseen hiatus. Buster Posey's year off occurred as a result of his decision to skip the abbreviated 2020 season rather than a major shoulder procedure, but the comparison holds.

For the time being, Conforto is utilizing the lost time as fuel. He has urged Giants coaches to remind him that "being in this clubhouse and being able to play this game is a rare thing."