New York Mets: Three realistic goals for Michael Conforto in 2019

The New York Mets have had a lot of turnover in the 2018/19 offseason so far but one thing that is important is the fact that Michael Conforto has been healthy unlike last offseason.

The New York Mets are filled with young talent waiting to breakout but none of them have shown, sort of lived up to, then lost all the potential to be a great player quite like Michael Conforto.

Michael Conforto was the lone Met in the 2017 MLB All-Star game. He was coming on super strong and finally becoming the hitter the Mets knew they had out of Oregon State.

After all, he was a small part of the Mets in their 2015 Pennant run.

But, his career has been barred by one word. I would almost describe it as a tease. But in reality, taking away his brutal shoulder injury from 2017, his career can be defined as… streaky.

In 2016, he played in 109 games.

But he hit just 12 home runs, 42 RBIs, and batted .220. Those stats are almost half of what he did in 2015 in just 56 games. Where he was good for .270/9/26.

Then, in 2017, where he was named an All-Star he went back to the form of his early career..

In 2017, he was outstanding before his injury.

In 109 games, he hit for a .279 average, 27 home runs, and 68 RBIs.

Had he played out the rest of that season, there is no reason to believe he wouldn’t have finished with over 40 home runs and 100 RBIs.

But then, in 2018, the most recent year we have to evaluate him, he came on really strong towards the end of the yer.

He returned from shoulder surgery after missing about the first week of the season.

However, he still played in his most career games at 153. He hit his most home runs in a season ever with 28. Also had a career high 82 RBIs.

His .243 batting average is discouraging, but remember, he missed a large stretch of action from August 2017 until April 2018.

His timing to begin 2018 when he returned was off.

He went on a tear in the second half of the year hitting those 28 home runs, but only after hitting just one in the month of April.

As we will find out in 2019, that low average and long stretch without a home run might have just been par for the course with him.

That brings us to the point of this article.

We have seen his career so far. He has a lot of talent and showed us what he is capable of when he is rolling.

Now, it is time to bring on 2019.

Although his name was lightly in rumors to be part of a J.T. Realmuto trade, he is not going anywhere.

I would even go as far as to say he could be the next captain of the Mets because of his ability to hit home runs and play that ‘pretty baseball’ this new generation has come to love.

So, how could Conforto keep living up to his hype?

Can he answer a quietly solid 2018 with an even better 2019?

He probably can based on his overall career numbers.

So, here are three goals for “Scooter” to aim for in 2019. There is a direct correlation between all of them. He cannot achieve one of them without the others.