LOS ANGELES — Michael Conforto has worn a lot of this season. The strikeouts, the searching, the tinkering — all of it has been part of a first year in Dodger blue that never quite matched his expectations. Lately, though, the at-bats look different. Saturday night, they looked loud: three hits, including a key solo homer to left-center in the fourth, as the Dodgers stormed back to beat the Giants 7–5.
Asked why he seems to torment his old rivals, Conforto waved off any storyline beyond timing and focus. “I think they’ve just run into me at some bad times,” he said with a small smile. “I’ve been hot. I’m familiar with a lot of those guys, but I’m more focused on having good at-bats and getting away from tinkering so much. The plan isn’t to just get my hits against the Giants — it’s to keep going and have meaningful at-bats.”
The meaningful part showed up early. After the Dodgers crawled back into the game, Conforto opened the fourth with a bolt to left-center that cut the deficit to one, then later stayed on a changeup and lined it the other way — two swings that mirrored the approach he’s been chasing. “It feels like we’re in a good place,” he said. “Being able to go to left-center is a really good sign. Being able to stay on a changeup out over the plate and hit a line drive to left — those are the things I do when I feel right. We’re looking forward to doing more of that.”
Conforto didn’t pretend the change was magic. It started with honesty — his manager’s, and then his own. “It probably starts with really honest conversations with Doc,” Conforto said, referring to Dave Roberts. “There came a point when he was really honest with me. He said, ‘I need to see something from you.’ Not just going out there and getting a hit a day — he needed to see some fight, something he could trust, just being a baseball player.” Conforto admitted the message hit home. “I kind of lost that in the midst of the season, being so worried about getting my swing right. We still have to play the game and do the little things. It was a wake-up call. I have to give credit to Doc for being really honest with me and getting me going.”
For a hitter who has lived in the batting cage this year, the pivot has been less about a new drill and more about a perspective shift. “What’s allowed me to move away from how I’m feeling and just compete is getting back to that mindset,” he said. “When you’re trying something new, you don’t always know how to make adjustments. Right now, it’s about being athletic and competing.”
The results have followed. Conforto’s three-hit night helped stretch a lineup that’s booming with power up top, and his opposite-field confidence — the willingness to drive the ball where it’s pitched — gives the Dodgers a deeper, more matchup-proof card to play in October. He knows it, too. “We’re in a good place,” he repeated. “We just want more of those at-bats.”
There’s also an emotional layer to this weekend that has nothing to do with swing planes. Like everyone in the room, Conforto has been processing Clayton Kershaw’s announcement and a franchise icon’s goodbye tour. He’s faced Kershaw, and he’s beaten him a few times. That history lands a little differently now that they’re wearing the same uniform. “I remember seeing the ball go down the line and thinking, ‘Wow, I just hit a double off Clayton Kershaw,’” Conforto said. “He’s a legend of this game. Seeing how hard he works, the joy he takes in his routine — he’s always got a smile, always has energy. It’s really inspiring to watch him.” Getting to see the end of that career from the inside has left a mark. “To see him finish an incredible career in person and be on his team has been really special.”
Conforto circled back to Roberts when asked how he received that hard conversation in the moment — and why he was ready to hear it. “We were in agreement,” he said. “I had higher expectations of myself. The first one started in Anaheim, and we had others after that. It’s cool to have a manager who is so honest but also lifts you up, always has your back. In a season that’s been really rough at times, I really appreciate that.”
So does he appreciate the opportunity itself — the fact that Roberts kept running him out there while he wrestled with the mechanics. “It means everything that I’m still here and able to fight my way out of a pretty big hole,” Conforto said. “I appreciate his honesty and that he came to me when he did.”
That’s the blueprint for Conforto the rest of the way: fewer thoughts, more fight; fewer midgame experiments, more trusting the work. Saturday was what it looks like when the ball finds the barrel and the mind stays quiet. If the Dodgers get this version in October — the one who rides the ball to left-center, punishes mistakes, and stacks professional at-bats — the lineup gets longer, the outs get tougher, and the Giants aren’t the only ones who will feel tormented.
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