How ‘bout those former New York Mets? We were bound to see a couple of our exes excel in another uniform. These three proved they were more than ready for the 2024 season to begin.
1) Michael Conforto
Unbelievably, the Mets have played two full seasons since Michael Conforto last suited up for them. A stalwart in the outfield and middle of the lineup for what felt like much longer than it actually was, Conforto is now in year two with the San Francisco Giants. If the opening weekend performance is any indication of what’s next, he’s in store for a big year.
Four games into his season, Conforto is batting .400/.471/.933 with a pair of doubles and home runs each. He has already scored 6 runs and driven in 5. Eliminate the extra from the two home runs and he has accounted for 11 total runs of offense for the Giants. That’s more than the Mets have scored as a team.
Conforto is in year two of his deal with the Giants he signed after missing all of 2022 due to injury. He opted into the $18 million deal for 2024 after a less than stellar 2023 campaign. He had eerily similar numbers to what he did in his last year with the Mets in 2021. Both seasons included an identical 125 games, 406 at-bats, and .384 slugging percentage. Several other numbers were reasonably close. Even the OPS+ which adjusts for ballparks had a one point differential.
The Giants were much more fortunate this offseason in free agency after some big swings and misses the year prior. Blake Snell fell to them. So did Matt Chapman. Conforto, a holdover from last year, should have a prominent role.