Mets Minors: Conforto named Eastern League Player of the Week

New York Mets outfield prospect Michael Conforto has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week.

Conforto, currently playing with Double-A Binghamton, went 7-for-16 with two home runs, three RBI, and three runs scored while slugging 1.000 in four games this past week.

Since his promotion to Binghamton, Conforto is hitting .325/.404/.529 with five home runs and 24 RBI.

Conforto, 22 was drafted 10th overall by the Mets during last year’s draft.

Thoughts:

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With the Mets in desperate need of offense and with left fielder Michael Cuddyer likely heading to the disabled list at some point soon due to a bone bruise in his left knee, the possibility of Conforto getting called up has increased.

While the club has so far said that it’s unlikely that Conforto will be promoted in the near future, it’s hard to imagine an alternative that’s better than Conforto should Cuddyer land on the disabled list.

So far, in games where Cuddyer has either sat or pulled himself out early, the Mets have turned to Kirk Nieuwenhuis or John Mayberry, Jr. — two players who shouldn’t be on a major league roster, let alone serving in a starting capacity.

As far as potential Cuddyer replacements in Triple-A go, there really aren’t any viable ones. Darrell Ceciliani, who is a bench piece at best, is hurt. Travis Taijeron has a strikeout rate near 32 percent and isn’t on the 40-man roster. The recently reacquired Zach Lutz isn’t particularly good and isn’t an outfielder.

If Cuddyer winds up on the disabled list, the immediate move really should be for the Mets to call up Conforto and give him a look. At that point, Sandy Alderson should finally pull the trigger via trade while adding a player who can sub in for Cuddyer for the remainder of the season if need be.