Mets place Michael Conforto on the IL, recall Luis Guillorme

The Mets have placed outfielder Michael Conforto on the injured list with hamstring tightness, effectively ending his 2020 campaign. The club recalled Luis Guillorme from the alternate site to take his place for the final series of the season.

Conforto had arguably the best year of his impressive career and established himself as a legitimate MVP candidate in the National League. Over the course of 54 games, he slashed .322/.412/.515 with a 157 wRC+ and a 1.9 fWAR. He concluded the year with nine home runs and 40 runs scored and set career-highs in wRC+, batting average, and on-base percentage, while his .927 OPS was second only to his 2017 output.

Conforto flirted with the National League batting title for much of the season before cooling off towards the end of the year. After starting 52 of the team’s first 53 games, he missed the first two games against the Rays with hamstring tightness before returning last night. In that game, he struck out three times in his four at-bats before the Mets decided to shut him down today. With the team’s playoff chances essentially over, this is a smart and safe move, and also gives them a chance to get additional looks at Guillorme.

The utility infielder was in the middle of an impressive season himself before being sent down in place of Franklyn Kilome when the team was in desperate need of long relief options out of the pen. In 27 games this year, he’s hitting .347/.431/.429 with a 143 wRC+ and a 0.6 fWAR in 49 at-bats.