"The biggest surprise is certainly Michael getting named to the All-Star team. This guy started out the season as the fourth or fifth outfielder. All he did was, when he got his chance to get in the lineup, with the injury to Ces’, he ran with it. I think that’s gotta be the biggest surprise of the first half, how he’s played and what he’s accomplished. Hopefully it continues when we start up next Friday.”
The only one in baseball surprised is Terry Collins. Conforto was voted in by his peers.
The other day, Collins said he "hoped" to work Conforto into the line up.
Are you kidding me?
The entire league sees in Conforto what Collins does not?
Conforto had a great Spring and if not for injury, the Mets purest hitter would have been in AAA, as a 24 year old who would be a starter on any team in the majors.
In spite of a solid first half in which he may end up, if he plays, hitting 30 home runs, yet he still is not a lock in the line up?
This is beyond a bad joke.
This is the type of acquiescence to vets that gets younger players itching for a trade.
Let's hope the heir apparent of David Wright does not continue to get this nonsense treatment where a player can funk for 2 months and still be the starter, at age 36, or players who lead the league in poorest defense, struggle to bat their weight, still play over youngsters.
Guess what?
All the losses piled up when non-hitting vets were in the line up were not made up when they heated up. The lousy record remains the lousy record. Collins's strategy is not magically justified because of a hot streak; the damage is done and it was not undone.
What I do not know is this:
is this Collins' folly or is it ordered from above?
Conforto has young Wright charisma and potentially Mattingly-like hitting. He thus MUST play - daily.
ReplyDeleteSomeone else needs to sit to make that happen. Period.
The only way this makes sense is their showcasing everyone not named Cespedes which of course means they HAVE to play them. Big question to all is: is Conforto good enough to play center so we can keep Bruce or do you trade Jay move Conforto to right and trade for a centerfielder?
ReplyDeleteHe is probably ordered from above to play Bruce and Granderson to keep up their trade interest. However, there's no reason to put a less-than-100% Yoenis Cespedes out there. Give him another 10=day DL stint to heal and work the phones. Conforto plays LF. Problem solved.
ReplyDeleteI just realized how much I missed John Mayberry Jr. Very very little.
ReplyDeleteThomas so Eric Campbell gets no love eh:) Sandy can say what he wants but Rosario has to play as he's blocking no one. Cabrera can't play SS anymore and Reyes is what he is and should be worth something to a contender based on his salary.
ReplyDelete1)I agree put Cespedes on the DL until we deem he is ready not him.
ReplyDelete2) put Granderson in left and Conforto in Center until after they trade some of these guys
3) we waited this long so you might as well wait a bit longer so hopefully Cabrera and Reyes can build up their trade value, then bring up Rosario.
It's in the best interest of Conforto and Rosario to let the other guys showcase to the rest of the league what they have left in the tank. That way they bring better teammates for these guys to play with in the future.