NEW YORK -- Michael Conforto, promoted from Double-A to the majors by the New York Mets last week, is back in the Mets' starting lineup Wednesday. Not only that, he's batting fifth, and Mets manager Terry Collins expressed great confidence in the 22-year-old before the game.
"He's a lot more comfortable than I thought he might be here," Collins said. "You can tell he knows what he's doing when he's got that bat in his hands. When he gets in that batter's box, he's got really, really good plate discipline. Just lays off pitches that he knows he can't hit.
"Where I've been more impressed is his base running, and he's got to some balls in the corner in left field that people, when we signed this guy, they weren't sure how he was going to be defensively. I'm pretty impressed with what I've seen defensively. I think he's handled himself very well, I think he's a guy that's gonna be a real good player at this level -- I mean a real good player."
Conforto is currently batting .333, with no homers and three RBIs. He went 4-for-4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday but is hitless in the Mets' past two games.
Update on d'Arnaud: Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud is expected to play another rehab game Wednesday with the Double-A Binghamton Mets and could be back at Citi Field soon.
"The reports are, he looks fine, he's swinging the bat good -- he hasn't gotten a lot of hits, but he's swung the bat fine," Collins said. "He's going to catch again tonight, and hopefully the results will be what we want, and we'll see him here hopefully by the weekend."