This year has mostly been a struggle for Michael Conforto.  He has dealt with a wrist injury and declining production.  His manager, Terry Collins, has refused to play him against lefties and against tough right-handers like Jose Fernandez and Justin Verlander.  He was sent down to the minors for a long stint to rediscover his stroke.  Upon being recalled, he was expected to learn both center and right field on the fly.

Through it all, Conforto has just hit .224/301/.457 with 11 homers and 33 RBI in 81 games.  Based upon these numbers, Conforto has not taken the next step like everyone thought he was going to do this year.  He certainly didn’t build upon his great April.  It doesn’t matter.  The Mets should play him everyday anyway.

The fact of the matter is Conforto has the highest upside out of anyone currently available to play for the Mets.  On a team full of left-hand hitting corner outfielders, his upside is the highest.  Consider this:

• Jay Bruce is having a career best year that has seen him hit .259/.311/.551.
• Curtis Granderson is 35 years old, and he is hitting .233/.328/.437.
• Alejandro De Aza has had to play out of his mind since July 1st to bring his season slash line to .201/.294/.306.
• Brandon Nimmo is hitting .239/.297/.288 in 20 games.

Conforto is much more capable than any of those numbers.  Just this April, we saw him hit .365/.442/.676.  Since he was recalled from AAA, we have seen him try to get back to hitting the ball to the opposite field, and as a result, he hit an opposite field home run in Comerica Park.

Playing Conforto everyday is not without its risks.  He is only hitting .233/.327/.395 in his 16 games and 11 starts since being recalled from AAA.  He is still only hitting .133/.185/.150 with one extra base hit in 60 career at bats against left-handed pitching.  He is still a developing player.

With all that said, no one has his upside.  Conforto is the only Met who is truly capable to replacing Yoenis Cespedes‘ bat while Cespedes is on the disabled list.  With that in mind, it is worth the risk to play Conforto everyday.  At this point, the Mets need all the offensive help they can get, and Conforto is the best equipped to do that.  It’s why he was drafted, and it is why the Mets called him up last year despite his never having played above AA.

Overall, if the Mets are going to go anywhere, they need more offense.  Moreover, they need Conforto to start hitting like he is capable of hitting.  The only way either is going to happen is for Conforto to play everyday.