Mets moved Michael Conforto to fifth spot in lineup after long slump

The Mets' lineup is missing three key players, as David Wright, Lucas Duda, and Travis d'Arnaud are all on the disabled list, but the poor performance of left fielder Michael Conforto lately has been nearly as significant. Last night, the Mets moved Conforto down from the third spot to the fifth spot in their lineup.

Conforto lit the league on fire in April by hitting .365/.442/.676, but has been ice cold since the beginning of May. In 101 plate appearances, he's hit just .151/.218/.312. Some regression was expected from Conforto, who hit like Barry Bonds for the first month of the season.

A slump like this was going to happen sooner or later for the young outfielder. In total, he's hit .246/.321/.473 with 8 home runs in 187 plate appearances this season. The Mets have rarely used him in the starting lineup when they've faced left-handed starting pitchers. That's the case today, as the Marlins are starting lefty Justin Nicolino and Conforto is not in the Mets' lineup.