The Los Angeles Dodgers plan to use outfielder Michael Conforto as the team’s everyday left fielder, according to manager Dave Roberts.
The Dodgers don’t plan on giving Conforto a platoon partner, although the team certainly could with right-handed options in Chris Taylor, Andy Pages, and Kiké Hernández.
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In 2024, Conforto hit at a .237 clip with 20 home runs, 66 runs batted in, and a .759 OPS for the San Francisco Giants. The outfielder’s best performance came in 2015 when he played a pivotal role in the New York Mets’ playoff run. He hit a .333 average with two home runs in the 2015 World Series against the Kansas City Royals.
The Dodgers are hoping to help Conforto recapture those numbers this season.
“I think that our guys have seen some things that they think can make him get back to what he used to be in ’15, more of a productive hitter,” Roberts said, via The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett. “Where he’s at in his maturation as a ballplayer – I just think things are really lining up.”
There’s no reason to doubt the Dodgers will help Conforto kickstart a career revival L.A. In fact, there’s every reason to expect the defending champions will help Conforto return to his best form.
Teoscar Hernández essentially did the same thing last season. He signed a one-year ‘prove it’ deal with the Dodgers, and the outcome was a World Series ring, a career-high in home runs, an All-Star selection, and winning the Home Run Derby.
Therefore, Conforto could be poised for success with the Dodgers.
On the eve of the Winter Meetings, the Dodgers surprised fans by signing Conforto instead of Hernández, but the deal gave the team the left-handed hitter/outfielder they had been searching for.
By joining the defending champions, Conforto has the opportunity to show the rest of the league that he can still play at an All-Star level — and based on Roberts’ comments, he’ll have every opportunity to do just that, no matter the pitcher on the mound.
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Photo Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
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