For as good as Andrew Friedman has been as the architect of the roster, even he won’t have a perfect batting average with every move he’s made with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
Veteran outfielder Michael Conforto was brought in over the offseason essentially as a one-year stopgap in left field. Dalton Rushing experimented briefly as an outfielder, and when coupled with the depth in the farm system, Conforto was never expected to be a long-term solution.
More news: Dodgers Named Top Fit for Alex Bregman in Free Agency
Essentially, he fit the mold as a guy the Dodgers would appreciate. Conforto is an experienced player with a penchant for walking and not chasing. He was billed as a reclamation project where he’d reset his own value presumably with a big year surrounded by better talent than at any other point in his career.
Unfortunately for Conforto and the Dodgers, none of that has come to fruition. With an 0-for-4 performance hitting cleanup on Thursday, the outfielder is currently sporting a .186 batting average in nearly 400 plate appearances. This includes a .293 OBP, a .319 SLG, and a .611 OPS. All of these categories currently are the worst of his career for any single season.
Theoretically, it would be one thing if Conforto were an excellent fielder and/or speed threat. With one or two above-average skills, it could make the lack of production at the plate a bit more palatable. However, Baseball Savant indicates that Conforto ranks in the 21st percentile in sprint speed and the eighth percentile in outfield range.
In other words, Conforto is a below-average runner with some of the worst range in baseball.
Fans will bring up Jason Heyward as a comparison. Heyward had a better OPS in half the plate appearances that Conforto has gotten — yet was let go during the middle of the season. One could also make the argument that Heyward was a far better outfielder from a defensive standpoint.
The Dodgers front office and coaching staff have been steadfast in being supportive of Conforto through the media and clearly with his usage. To be fair to the player, the pressure has to be mounting given the expectations of playing for the Dodgers, and the spotlight it brings.
At the same time, this franchise is all about winning. With a player struggling to this level in all facets, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to continually trot him out there when the situation has become this dire contextually speaking.
With Teoscar Hernandez’s struggles in right field, it would make more than some sense to move him to left with the strong-armed Andy Pages patrolling the opposite side of the outfield. Pages is more mobile and has a far stronger arm in comparison.
Getting Tommy Edman back healthy may be the key to this whole situation. There’s a world where he could man the centerfield spot with a combination of Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland at second base. Those two rookies at the very least offer high-level defense, energy, and athleticism.
Kiké Hernández’s impending return also gives the Dodgers another outfield option to utilize in place of Conforto. Alex Call could also play left field on an everyday basis with Pages in center and Hernandez in right.
This storyline will continue to fester unless the Dodgers make a move. It very well could be on the horizon given the expected returns of some core team members.
It’ll something to monitor moving forward.
More news: Dodgers’ Dave Roberts Had Heartfelt Talk With Michael Conforto That Appeared to Get Him on Track
Photo Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
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6 Responses
I think it is time to move on from Roberts. What was he thinking batting Conforto in the Clean Up position. Come on already. Is Conforto his best buddy or what??????? He went 0-4 in the clean up position. Who puts a batter batting .186 in a clean up position and they refuse to call of Ryan Ward. Maybe it is time to move on from Friedman too. You got a guy killing it in the PCL in Ryan Ward and you do not even give the kid an opportunity. The bottom of the lineup is really hurting with the Dodgers now. Moving Conforto from the bottom of the line up to clean up is beyond stupid. In fact even playing the guy is dumb too No manager in the history of baseball would do that. I am so angry at what is happening. Ryan Ward should be playing in MLB and getting a comfortable salary by now. He has done everything asked of him. Traveling on long bus rides, living is cheap hotels and eating cheap food. That is the life of living in the minors to catch your dream. It must be so hard living in the world of AAA while he sees guys pass him on getting called up has got to play with Ryan Ward’s mind but he still goes out there everyday and plays hard and has success.
He did the same thing with Bellinger placing him in cleanup for several games.. Didn’t work out so well so Dave put Bellinger in leadoff. That didn’t go so well either. I think Conforto has struck out 3 or 4 times in the past couple of weeks with bases loaded and 2 outs. Time to move on from this guy but seems like Dave and Andrew are love with him so it ain’t going to happen. Expect to see Conforto on the post season roster.
Disgusted as well fellas with ‘the
Conforto Situation!’ Yeah yesterday
they pulled out a win even tho ALEX CALL
was benched (after going 4 for 5) in Wednesday’s
loss (unexplainable). Then today Conforto is still in the
lineup when CALL deserved the start. So we get a rally going
for the 1st time in the 8th & instead of CALL pinch hitting for Buddy
Kennedy (almost as bad as Conforto) we get Dalton Rushing hitting into
a double play. Roberts mind is ‘up his …!”
I agree. Let’s face it the Dodgers give him the best players at the start of the season but Roberts is unable to manage as the season moves on or when guys get hurt. He makes really stupid moves. Keeping Conforto is mind boggling. I have played men’s senior hardball baseball with wood bats for many years and I think I could do better than Conforto at the plate. Pay me a few hundred and save 17 million paying a bum who can’t hit. Seriously now if the Dodgers do not make the playoffs or get knocked out the first round I would fire Roberts. I better not see Conforto on any playoff roster. Just my opinion. Roberts boneheaded moves are beyond belief.
Let’s see. Roberts continues to play Conforto. Let’s see. Roberts continues to refuse playing small ball in tight games. Let’s see. Roberts inserts Rushing (batting .186 and not the fastest runner in the MLB) as pinch hitter in critical situation where he hits into an inning-ending double play. Let’s see. Roberts has Teo swing for the fences in last at bat to end game. We gave Roberts a pass last year when the team was firing on most cylinders even with his questionable decisions then. But this year is different and there is no room for more Roberts errors. Time to re-think the manager position. And don’t bring up the old argument that “he has more wins and pennants than any other Dodger manager”. He should, given the amount of money the team has paid for the players he’s had.
In this question of Confort-o’fer, I have only one thing to say to this article by Jason Fray: AMEN and AMEN!