Mets outfielder Michael Conforto is ready for a bounceback season

The Mets outfield is crowded. Michael Conforto will most likely not start as part of it, however he is ready to bring back the form that turned heads in 2015

Conforto did not have a good 2016 season. The Mets have clearly acknowledged this by hinting that he’ll probably start the season in the minors if there isn’t a spot for regular playing time for him.

Mets fans have acknowledged this as I’m sure you all saw on #MetsTwitter this past season. And Conforto himself has acknowledged this, recently telling reporters that he’s been through a lot and called last season a “huge growing experience.”

To give you a bit of a reminder of last season (feel free to skip over this paragraph if you don’t want to recall these stats), Conforto struggled. His time was split between the majors and Triple-A Las Vegas.  He hit just .220/.310/.414 with 12 HR and 42 RBI in 348 plate appearances.  Clearly, this is not the Conforto we all saw and were impressed with back in 2015.

Conforto further acknowledged all this by stating the following:

"“I definitely took a step back and evaluated a little bit. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. There was a little bit, some expectation and trying to do too much up there. I think I had a great start to the season and wanted to keep that pace the entire season.”“I think there were a lot of positives to take away (from last season). Even in the failure, there’s a lot to take away from that as well. So I think I’ve learned a lot. And this year I feel very prepared.”"

We know that his agent, the infamous Scott Boras, feels the same way as Conforto, and has high hopes for him.

They say the first step is acknowledgment, right? And now, Conforto can work on improvement — which is exactly what he’s planning on doing. In fact, he is confident in turning things around in 2017, and getting 2015 Conforto back — you remember, the one who burst on to the scene and wound up hitting two home runs in Game 4 of the World Series. This would obviously be huge for the Mets if it can happen.

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The outfield is crowded. We know this. We’ve already spoken about how this has led to a bit of a sticky situation for the team.

As of right now, the Mets are expected to have Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, and Bruce in the outfield from left to right respectively. Where should Conforto be, minors or majors?