From time to time, if you listen to the Mets telecasts close enough, you will hear Keith Hernandez tell the story of his 1975 season.  After getting called-up and playing well in 1974, he thought he was in the majors for good.  That wasn’t the case.  In 1975, he was hitting .250/.309/.362 in 64 games.  He left the Cardinals with little other choice but to send him down to the minors, and they did.

Initially, Hernandez was humiliated by the moment.  However, he took advantage of the opportunity.  Down in the minors, he got his swing right.  He came back to the majors in 1976, and he he hit .289/.376/.428.  He was back in the majors, and he was back for good.  Hernandez would go on to win the 1979 batting title and MVP Award (shared with Willie Stargell).  He had a bat to match his unparalleled defense.  From that adversity, Hernandez would become a champion as a member of the 1982 and 1986 World Series teams.  In total, Hernandez put together a borderline Hall of Fame career.  It is something he might not have done had he not ever gone to the minors.  As he has said, it was the best thing that ever happened to his career.

If you listen to Mets telecasts closely enough, you will also notice that Hernandez is a huge fan of Michael Conforto.  You will also notice Conforto is struggling mightily like Hernandez did in 1975.

It was not too long ago that Conforto seemed to be a budding superstar.  Having never played above AA, Conforto was called-up to the majors last year to hit .270/.335/.506 in 56 games.  He hit two home runs in Game 4 of the World Series.  He started this season off hitting .365/.442/.676 with four homers in April.  The question then wasn’t whether he was major league ready, the question was how high his ceiling could possibly be.  It seemed that Conforto was a likely All Star, possibly more.  Then the calendar turned to May.

Since May 1st, Conforto has hit .157/.212/.321.  There could be a multitude of reasons why this has happened from major league pitchers figuring him out and Conforto failing to make the needed adjustments to the cortisone shot Conforto needed in his wrist.  Bottom line is Conforto has gone from playing at an All Star level to being a player who belongs in the minor leagues.  Considering the fact that Terry Collins wants to “shake things up” it may be a signal that the Mets are willing to demote Conforto. It may not be the worst thing for Conforto or the Mets.

Conforto can go to Las Vegas and get himself right.  He can spend time down there not only working on his swing but also his approach at the plate.  Furthermore, hitting in a hitter’s haven like the Pacific Coast League could do wonders for a player that has been struggling for well over a month in the majors.  We all saw how well this worked for Travis d’Arnaud back in 2014.  He came back a much better player after his time in the minors.  We also saw the positive effects of such a demotion with Keith Hernandez.

In the interim, the Mets could choose to give Alejandro De Aza some additional playing time to see if he can start playing like the player they thought he was when the Mets signed him in the offseason.  The Mets could decided to turn to Brandon Nimmo who has been raking in AAA.  Maybe, just maybe, the Mets could allow Conforto to start taking grounders at first considering James Loney is not the long term answer and no one knows when Lucas Duda can return from the disabled list.

Ultimately, this could be the best thing that has happened to both Conforto and the Mets.  If the Mets have designs on returning to the World Series, they are going to need Conforto, who, when right, is the most complete hitter on the team.  While he’s finding his stroke in the minors, Nimmo could get his chance to see if he is indeed ready to play in the majors.  If Conforto is able to pick up first base, then the Mets could keep Nimmo in left when Conforto is ready to return to the majors.  It might be time to send Conforto to AAA for not only his own good, but also for the good of the Mets.

After all, it worked for Keith Hernandez.