The Los Angeles Dodgers brought in many key pieces this offseason to retool a team that was coming off of its second World Series win in five years.
A weaker point in the juggernaut, the outfield, was secured by re-signing Teoscar Hernández and bringing in veteran Michael Conforto. Hernández is off to another All-Star caliber season, but Conforto, on the other hand, is struggling immensely in his first season with the team.
After spending the last two seasons batting .238 with the National League West rival San Francisco Giants, the 32-year-old was seen as another left-handed bat that could bring his experience to the table and log quality innings in the outfield.
That hasn’t been the case with Conforto as he is currently batting .164 with 48 strikeouts in 46 appearances.
Lately, Conforto has shown signs of once again finding his swing, but he hasn’t been the consistent piece L.A. thought they were signing this offseason. He was hitting .156 through the first 28 games of the season and improved, albeit marginally, to .179 during the month of May so far.
Manager Dave Roberts opened up on his struggling veteran and noticed the frustration he has presumably been going through.
“I think the last handful of days has swung the bat better and just really not getting a whole lot of results with that,” Roberts said. “He’s in a good spot. I’m sure he’s frustrated. … But I applaud his work and his consistent effort. He’s not running from it and that’s something that isn’t always easy when you’re struggling.”
Over the last 10 games, Conforto has shown flashes, batting .265/.359/.412 with a .771 OPS, but there is still significant work to do. The regular season is long — and the outfield doesn’t have as much depth as L.A. would like — but the team will hope he continues to build upon his recent improvement.
