Michael Conforto: The Slugging Superstar Somehow Hidden in MLB's Biggest City

NEW YORK — The shoes are orange, bright orange, impossible-to-miss orange.

Michael Conforto reached into his Citi Field locker to find them, happy to show them off because they came from his alma mater, Oregon State. The top-ranked Beavers are back in the NCAA tournament super regionals for the first time since 2013, and Conforto is eager to support them.

Some day, he might even put those shoes on.

He might need to, if he wants to grab back some of the baseball attention that so far this season has focused on another outfielder on the other side of town. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees has become baseball's next big thing, and rightfully so, while Conforto of the New York Mets has succeeded in relative anonymity.

Judge has a special personalized rooting section at Yankee Stadium, and as of this week has more All-Star votes than anyone but Bryce Harper. Conforto has none of that. He's not even on the All-Star ballot.

"I don't think anybody in this clubhouse cares about any of that, including Michael," said Jay Bruce, Conforto's teammate. "He's all business. He doesn't care about being famous. He just wants to help the Mets win."

The Mets haven't been winning, despite Conforto's best efforts. He's sixth in the major leagues in OPS (1.038)—just a little behind Judge (third in the majors, 1.110). But the Mets are 24-31, while Judge's Yankees are 32-22, in first place in the American League East.

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It's not entirely fair to compare them. There are similarities (both are corner outfielders, and both are polite young men who went to college on the West Coast and were drafted in the first round). But they're not the same player.

Conforto is almost a full year younger, having just turned 24 in March. He's half a foot shorter, at 6'1" to Judge's 6'7". He's a left-handed hitter, and while he has enough power to have hit 14 home runs already this season, he's much more of a pure hitter than Judge.

"The ability he has to play a complete game is something not a lot of guys have," Bruce said.

He's a good story, one that doesn't depend on any comparisons. This is a guy who went from the Little League World Series (in 2004) to the College World Series (in 2013) to the World Series (in 2015). He's a guy who learned the difficulties of trying to succeed in the major leagues when he was sent down twice last season, a guy who came to spring training this year without a guaranteed spot on the roster, let alone in the lineup.

The Mets began the year with Bruce, Curtis Granderson and Yoenis Cespedes in their starting outfield, which is why Conforto isn't on the All-Star ballot and also why he started just three of the first 13 games of the season.

He has started 39 of the 42 since then, in part because Cespedes got hurt, in part because he has been easily the Mets' best hitter with Cespedes out. Cespedes could come off the disabled list this week, but Conforto won't come out of the everyday lineup.

"Each day I'm up here I feel more comfortable," Conforto said.

There's no doubt the Mets have become more comfortable with him.

They watched last year as a .365 batting average in April deteriorated into the 21-for-142 (.148) slump that led to his first demotion. They've watched this year as Conforto followed another strong April (1.055 OPS) with a just-as-good May (1.054 OPS).

He tried to hit too many home runs last year, manager Terry Collins believes. He's sticking with his hit-to-all-fields, line-drive approach this year, which is allowing him to hit more consistently and also to succeed against left-handed pitchers in a way he didn't in the past.

"I think he has settled into [knowing] that his swing works and he doesn't need to change anything," Collins said.

Conforto did change some things. Over the winter, he traded fast food and room service for more nutritious meals he regularly cooked himself.

"It was a pretty drastic change," he said.

He feels stronger and healthier, and more conditioned to make it through the grind of a six-month major league season.

Meanwhile, he has become a better outfielder (despite two throwing errors Sunday), one who will likely handle center field regularly once Cespedes returns. He's become a leadoff hitter, fitting the spot because of a .410 on-base percentage.

"It goes along with the attitude that I want to do what I can to help the team win," Conforto said.

The Mets love it, and they love him, but they haven't done much to make sure people notice him. While the Yankees have set up the "Judge's Chambers" in the right field seats in the Bronx, the Mets have stuck to a more traditional and subtle marketing plan around Conforto, with a "4 for $30" ticket offer based on his uniform number.

"I'm not too worried about it," Conforto said. "What I'm focused on is being on the winning side of games and whatever I can do to promote this team. The attention is just a bonus to doing my job."

He doesn't shy away from it, but he doesn't seek it out, either. If he did, those bright orange shoes wouldn't still be in the box in his locker.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

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