Michael Conforto has one Splash Hit home run at Oracle Park to his name as a New York Met. With a surgically repaired right shoulder, the left-handed hitter is hoping to notch plenty more as the San Francisco Giants’ newest outfielder.
Conforto, 29, signed a two-year, $36 million deal with the Giants just days after the team’s 13-year deal with shortstop Carlos Correa fell through due to concerns over his surgically repaired ankle that arose during his physical. Conforto and Correa share the same agent in Scott Boras. They also share an injured past.
The shoulder surgery forced Conforto to miss all of the 2022 season. On a call with reporters from the Giants’ training complex in Scottsdale, Ariz. — where Conforto lives — Conforto said he’s had no setbacks and expects his right shoulder to be fully healthy for the season. The Giants’ medical team told him they were pleased with “how everything is looking,” he said.
Physically, Conforto feels stronger every day. Mentally, missing a season of baseball in his prime motivates him to milk his moments on the field.
“The last year or so, it’s been hard,” Conforto said. “You never want to miss an MLB season. It definitely wasn’t an ideal situation. It was heartbreaking a little bit. It gave me perspective, it gave me a chance to take a step back and view my career as a whole.”
A healthy Conforto could look like a steal for the Giants. He was a fan favorite in New York, nicknamed “Scoot” by veteran teammates Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom for the way he scooted around the bases. He made the All-Star team in 2017, his second full season at age 24, hitting 27 home runs. He’d hit 28 homers the following year and a career-high 33 in 2019.
In his seven years with the Mets, he batted .255 with a .356 on-base percentage and a .824 OPS. But shoulder issues Conforto says he’s had since his high school football days caught up to him. He had a shoulder cuff injury in 2019 and tore his left shoulder’s posterior capsule swinging through a pitch in 2017, requiring surgery.
“I’ve always had mobile shoulders. I’ve had laxity in my shoulders,” Conforto said. “It’s part of the reason I am able to do the things I can do. But more or less, it was a matter of shoulders getting beaten up. This left one has been great ever since the surgery. All signs point to the right one being the same way.”
Conforto’s shoulder surgery also gave the Giants an opportunity to snag him at a bargain price. His signing follows a noticeable pattern in Giants’ free agent signings of late.
The 32-year-old Mitch Haniger signed for three-years, $43.5 million after having played more than 100 games just twice in his five-year MLB career. He’s sustained a few flukey injuries, some requiring surgery. Newest bullpen addition Luke Jackson signed a two-year deal worth $11.3 million after missing all of 2022 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
How much more watchable the 2023 Giants will be banks on some talented players looking to get back on track.
It’s to be seen how that plan pans out for a Giants team desperate to re-capture fans’ attention and contend with a deep National League West division.
But Conforto is ready for this opportunity. He arrived at the Giants’ Papago Baseball Complex a few days ago and started throwing from 200 feet out recently. He’s been able to catch up with some of his old Mets teammates — Wilmer Flores, J.D. Davis — and settle into the familiar West Coast.
Conforto grew up in Seattle, but found himself following the Giants as a baseball fan. He played for the Beavers at Oregon State from 2012 to 2014, at the height of the Giants’ dynasty. During his Little League World Series appearance, Conforto named Barry Bonds as his favorite player and watched Tim Lincecum pitch at the University of Washington.
But one year out of the game can feel like an eternity. He rehabbed at his home in Scottsdale this year, but bought the most extensive MLB TV package to keep up to date with the game. Injury flags and all, he’s one of the Giants’ biggest acquisitions this offseason. He sees himself as a player who can pull a disappointing team back into the 100-win column.
“I have a lot of confidence about coming back and playing an important part of this team,” he said. “I have confidence in the player that I have been and where I’m going.”
Join the Conversation
We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.