Mets: Michael Conforto stays hot with second home run of the spring

Michael Conforto is looking to make any decision revolving around his playing time as tough as possible for the Mets’ brass.

Conforto’s hot spring start continued on Sunday afternoon. The left-handed hitting outfielder went 2 for 3 with a single and a monster home run in the Mets victory over the Detroit Tigers, 5-2. Conforto has now started 5 for 7 this spring and has collected two home runs over the first three games he’s played in.

Of course, this is an extremely small sample size, and it is Spring Training, so as many have reminded us on Twitter already, it is really early. However, Conforto getting locked in early on can only be a good thing for his confidence.

It should also be mentioned that his home run on Sunday was off Tigers’ lefty Daniel Stumpf. Yes, you read that correctly, the blast was off a southpaw.

This was Conforto’s second start of the spring against a lefty already. Manager Terry Collins is looking to give him as much as exposure as possible against them. This is a pretty big deal early on specially because of how awful the idea of protecting Conforto against lefties went last year. It was a dumb idea then, and thankfully the Mets are realizing it now as it’s Conforto’s time to shine, and prove he can be the star of the future in the outfield in New York.

Both of these games have had Conforto play right field as well. During Sunday’s game he made a terrific catch stealing a potential multiple-base hit away from the Tigers’ hitter.

With Lucas Duda again missing today’s game after receiving injections on his back, the first base job is pretty open. If the Mets are serious about giving Jay Bruce time in the infield, it would free up Conforto’s spot in the outfield so the team could keep him in the Majors and give him playing time.

Next: Mets fans need to R-E-L-A-X

Obviously there’s still a long way to go before roster decisions like this get made, but the way Conforto is raking early on, the discussions are already heating up.