• FOR THE WEEK OF ApRil 24 - 30, 2023 •
YOUR WEEKlY GUiDE TO TV ENTERTAiNMENT
The new special "Carol Burnett: 90 Years of
Laughter + Love" airs Wednesday on NBC.
In the category of most intriguing offseason free agent signings, we
present for your consideration Michael Conforto.
Indeed, the slugging outfielder with the sweet lefty swing was sup-
posed to be a perennial All Star by now. But injuries and inconsistent
play short-circuited his career with the New York Mets, who opted to
let the Washington State native test the market following a poor 2021
season.
So now, the nine-year veteran is starting over. He spent all of 2022
as an unsigned free agent, recovering and rehabbing from shoulder sur-
gery, then over the winter signed a two-year, $36 million contract with
the San Francisco Giants with the idea that he would be their starting
left fielder.
If he's the player he was in his best years in New York, that will
prove to be a bargain. He was an All Star in 2017, hit 34 homers in
2019 and was a middle-of-the-lineup force as recently as the pandem-
ic-shortened 2020 season, when he batted .322 with nine homers, a
.412 on-base percentage and an OPS of .927 in 54 games. But a night-
marish 2021 of .232, 14, .344, .729 and a subsequent shoulder injury
followed and Conforto was left to salvage his flagging career elsewhere.
Early returns have it that his
comeback is on track. In the first
two-plus weeks of preseason play,
Conforto reports his throwing
shoulder feels normal and that
he could be moved to his usual
haunt of right field, a position
that requires a stronger arm, if
needed. His swing also appears to
be rounding into shape with three
homers in his first seven games.
Conforto seeks to recapture
All-Star form with Giants
By George Dickie playerprofile
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