Giants’ Michael Conforto bids to continue hot start vs. Padres.
On Thursday, Michael Conforto became the 18th Opening Day left fielder in 18 years for the San Francisco Giants.
With his performance in the first three games of the team’s first series at the San Diego Padres, Conforto seems determined to insert himself into the Giants’ record book in another, more positive light.
After slugging a ninth-inning homer on Opening Day in a 6-4 loss, Conforto belted a grand slam in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 9-6 win, assuring San Francisco of no worse than a split. The Giants will try for a series win on Sunday in San Diego.
And Conforto will try to keep clearing fences in an attempt to do something that hasn’t happened in the team’s recent history.
“There’s one other thing that hasn’t happened since Barry (Bonds). That’s a 30-homer season,” Conforto said.
While that might seem far-fetched given Conforto has spent as much time battling injuries as he’s spent digging into the batter’s box since a 33-homer 2019 season with the New York Mets, he is off to a 6-of-13 start with five RBIs.
And his work at the plate is just one of the many positives for the Giants. They’ve scored 21 runs in the first three games and are perhaps a seventh-inning bullpen meltdown on Thursday away from a potential sweep of a National League West rival in its ballpark.
