Dodgers Interview: Conforto on his first taste of Dodgers/Padres rivalry

Michael Conforto picked the perfect moment to rediscover his power stroke.

With the Dodgers trailing 1–0 in the fifth inning of Sunday’s rubber match against the Padres, Conforto sent a fastball deep into the Petco Park night, tying the game and setting the stage for Teoscar Hernández’s go-ahead three-run homer an inning later. It was Conforto’s fourth home run in Dodger blue, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Um, I think we’re getting there,” Conforto said after the game when asked if he feels like he’s turned the corner offensively. “I think the quality of the at-bats have definitely gone in the right direction, and hitting the ball a little bit harder and just being a little bit tougher of an out. I think there’s a lot of work to do still, but just a great team win.”

That theme—team success—was a constant throughout Conforto’s postgame comments. Though his homer broke up Padres starter Randy Vásquez‘s shutout and gave the Dodgers a jolt of momentum, Conforto quickly turned the spotlight to the rest of the clubhouse.

“The bullpen was amazing,” he said, speaking of the eight pitchers used in the game. But his praise wasn’t limited to the pitching. “Teo getting that big swing, Will showed up at the end of the game. Just a great team win.”

Still, Conforto’s power is beginning to return at a crucial time. Asked about what his recent home runs might indicate about where his swing is at, he pointed to something deeper than just balls clearing the fence.

“One of the big things is putting good swings on some fastballs,” he said. “Hitting those hard. In my career, that’s been my bread and butter. I’ve always been a guy who hits the fastball, and so more so than the ball leaving the yard, just hitting the fastball hard is one of the big things for me.”

Behind that renewed ability to catch up to heaters is a lot of work—most of it behind the scenes. For Conforto, getting to the fastball again meant reworking fundamentals and getting his body aligned with his approach.

“I think it’s just a lot of the work that I’ve put in,” he explained. “Getting my body in the right position, getting the plane of the swing right. There’s a lot of things I’ve been working on, but really just being ready—putting myself in the right position when I go to launch—that’s been the biggest thing.”

Sunday also gave Conforto his first real taste of the Dodgers-Padres rivalry with the stakes turned up, and he acknowledged the intensity in the ballpark from the opening pitch to the final out.

“Yeah, the atmosphere was great,” he said. “It’s one of the more loud parks that you go to around the league, but it definitely felt different in this series. It’s a good start to my career with this rivalry, and I’m looking forward to more of it.”

The Padres’ aggressive bullpen decisions—pulling their starter early and trying to play matchups with Shohei Ohtani in the fifth—was another reminder that even in mid-June, Dodgers-Padres can feel like October.

“Yeah, it can feel a little bit more like playoffs,” Conforto said. “Definitely some interesting situations—you know, us kind of saving guys yesterday, and obviously them bringing a guy in to get a big out with Sho. It just speaks to the intensity of the series.”

With Conforto heating up and the Dodgers grinding out wins even when runs are hard to come by, Sunday’s performance was another example of why this roster can be so dangerous down the stretch. The veteran outfielder isn’t looking for personal accolades—he’s just trying to contribute, one swing at a time.

“It’s just about putting together good at-bats and doing what I can to help the team,” he said.

Right now, that’s exactly what he’s doing.

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