Michael Conforto is making the Dodgers pay for betting too hard on offense

When the Dodgers signed Michael Conforto to a one-year, $17 million prove-it deal, they were not only taking a chance on a guy who had a sketchy track record at the plate, they were also locking themselves into a pretty firm outfield configuration. Conforto's never been prized for his glove, but he has more experience in left field and a weaker arm than Teoscar Hernández (who also isn't known for his defense), so Hernández went to right and Conforto went to left, with Andy Pages primarily in center.

But signing Conforto, who hit 20 home runs last year and enjoyed his best slugging numbers since 2020, made sense for the Dodgers' typical philosophy. He hasn't been a plus defender since 2021 (and Hernández has never been a plus defender), but he was able to show off enough power last year with the Giants that the Dodgers felt comfortable adding him to their offense-first roster.

However, Conforto's currently batting .141 with a .528 OPS, was 0 for his last 24 heading into Monday night, and has dropped to eighth in the Dodgers' order, when he'd settled mostly at fifth in the beginning of April. The Dodgers were willing to sacrifice outfield defense for the potential of offensive production, but they haven't gotten any of that so far.

Michael Conforto's awful slump at the plate is making the Dodgers' offense-first approach look really bad

When asked if the Dodgers would consider benching Conforto, Dave Roberts said, "I have thought about it. I know he’s grinding right now. We’ll see. I’m not saying that at some point if we don’t see- if he doesn’t look more comfortable, to be able to give him a couple days off might make sense. But right now, I want to keep running him out there."

However, Roberts' waning faith in Conforto made itself pretty obvious on Sunday night, when he pinch-hit Miguel Rojas in the top of the seventh, and Rojas hit the first pinch-hit homer of his career.

Roberts acknowledged that there's always a lot of pressure on players with one-year deals, and theorized that it might be getting to Conforto's head. It makes sense, but it's also a little hard to accept when Conforto's signing drew early comparisons to Hernández's from last year, when he became one of most invaluable pieces of the Dodgers' lineup on a one-year prove-it deal.

The Dodgers are extremely unlikely to cut Conforto, but it would be infuriating if they got stuck with a lame duck on both sides of the ball because they gambled and lost.