When Major League Baseball’s trade deadline arrives next month, the Dodgers will almost certainly be on the lookout for help in the bullpen.
If their injury-plagued rotation takes any more hits, they might reluctantly have to explore the starting pitching market, as well.
But, when discussing the team’s deadline plans recently with The Times’ Bill Shaikin,, the one potential area of offensive need that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman seemed unlikely to address was left field.
Michael Conforto might be struggling mightily this season after signing for $17 million this winter. But the Dodgers have remained bullish on his ability to turn a corner and make something of a positive influence down the stretch.
“To date, obviously, Michael hasn’t performed up to what he expected or we expected,” Friedman said. “But, watching the way he is working, watching the progress being made, I would bet that his next two months are way better than his last two months.”
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On Tuesday night at Coors Field, Conforto gave such optimism some badly needed life.
In the Dodgers’ 9-7 win against the woeful Colorado Rockies, the veteran slugger went two for five with an early double and a go-ahead home run, keying the team’s six-run rally in the fourth with a three-run blast launched deep to right.
The performance marked Conforto’s first multi-hit effort since May 27, and his first with multiple extra-base hits since collecting three doubles on May 13.
It was his first game all season with more than one RBI.
“Took some good swings today, a big homer there,” Conforto said. “I’ve definitely been feeling better and hitting the ball a little bit harder and taking better at-bats.”
The question now is whether Tuesday was a temporary blip, or a legitimate turning point for Conforto?
The answer could have important implications on the Dodgers’ roster construction for the second half of the season, with manager Dave Roberts acknowledging that Conforto is facing a “critical” upcoming month.
“I think he’s trending in the right direction,” Roberts said. “But we’re going to continue to look and figure out ways we can get better as a ballclub, as we do get closer to the deadline. I hope that’s not in his kind of mindset … But it’s important for him to continue playing well.”
Conforto’s overall numbers are still harsh on the eyes. His .171 batting average is easily the worst among qualified big-league hitters. His negative-0.7 mark in wins above replacement (an all-encompassing stat not helped by his limited defensive range in left field) entering the day ranked 158th out of 161 such players.
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His playing time has also begun to decrease recently, with Conforto twice getting benched against right-handed pitchers last week in favor of fellow lefty hitter Hyeseong Kim in the outfield.
“I see [Conforto] playing a lot still,” Roberts said then. “But I do think that in a meritocracy, in that vein, Hyeseong has earned opportunities.”
And yet, to this point, the Dodgers have sounded wary of shopping for a potential replacement ahead of the deadline.
“Never say never,” Friedman said when asked about the possibility of trading for a left fielder in the next month, “but I think we would hold a very high bar and find it very unlikely.”
On Tuesday, Conforto showed a long-awaited glimpse as to why.
One of the 32-year-old’s primary weaknesses this season has been hitting the fastball. Entering Tuesday, he was batting just .174 against heaters, compared to a .283 average against them last year with the San Francisco Giants. He noted that pitchers have started to attack him with it more often too.
“That’s probably the genesis of the whole deal,” Roberts said of Conforto’s struggles. “When you don’t hit the fastball, that starts to lend to a little cheating, chasing on spin. And so we got to get him back on the heater.”
In his first at-bat against right-handed Rockies starter Germán Márquez, Conforto finally did, turning on an inside four-seamer for a double down the right-field line; just his third extra-base hit of June.
“I gotta be able to put those balls in the gap and down the line,” Conforto said. “And just hit it hard somewhere.”
Power has been another missing piece of Conforto’s game. A four-time 20-home run hitter in his 10-year career, he entered Tuesday with only four long balls this season; all of them solo shots.
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But in the fourth inning, he came up with two aboard — after two misplays by Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia led to a pair of Dodgers runs that erased an early 2-0 deficit. Then, when Márquez flipped a 1-and-1 curveball low in the zone, Conforto found the barrel for his three-run blast, putting the Dodgers (49-31) in front 5-2.
“In a runners in scoring position, less than two out situation, just trying to get the ball in the air,” Conforto said. “And ended up leaving the park.”
Conforto felt his earlier double might have played into the big fly, theorizing that, after hitting a fastball from Márquez his first time up, he would finally see a breaking pitch that caught too much of the zone.
“If you feel like you can take that one away from the pitcher, [you] kind of have a better idea of what’s coming next in a big spot,” Conforto said. “That’s the cat-and-mouse game that you’re playing. When you’re swinging the bat a little bit better, you have a better idea of what’s going to be coming to you. So that’s part of it as well.”
Left-hander Justin Wrobleski made the Dodgers’ lead stand up, yielding just two runs over five innings of bulk relief to lower his ERA to 3.54 in four outings this month. Shohei Ohtani added some insurance in the sixth with his National League-leading 27th home run, muscling a two-run drive the other way. And though the Rockies (18-61) scored four unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings to make it close late, Tanner Scott shut the door with a four-out save to seal the team’s 11th win in its past 15 games.
“A win’s a win,” Roberts said. “Certainly in this ballpark.”
Conforto didn’t have another hit, grounding out with two aboard in the fifth, flying out with a runner at second in the seventh and grounding out again with a runner at second in the ninth.
But, while his season-long woes are far from being rectified, Tuesday at least served as a reminder that there’s still time — at least before the trade deadline — for him to get right.
“I like the swings. I like the at-bat quality. It seems like he’s getting to velocity better,” Roberts said. “I know for him, just to be able to contribute offensively, it’s got to feel good.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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