LOS ANGELES — A decade ago, Michael Conforto played in his only World Series, as a rookie who helped fuel the Mets to the National League pennant.
Now, after the worst season of his major league career, the 32-year-old outfielder is viewing another potential World Series run by his team from a different perspective: as a spectator.
Excluded from the Dodgers NLCS roster — as he was for the wild-card round and NLDS — Conforto is staying ready in case he’s needed as an injury substitute — but acknowledges his disappointment.
“I am just trying to enjoy this experience and soak it all in and trying to stay ready if they need me in this series or the next one,” Conforto told The Post before the Dodgers beat the Brewers 3-1 in Game 3 of the NLCS. “But definitely not being on the roster is motivating, so I have some things I have to work on and go into the offseason and take care of those things and we’ll see what happens.”
Conforto struggled to a .199/.305/.333 slash line with 12 homers and 36 RBIs in 138 games this season for the Dodgers.
Still, it came as a surprise to some in the organization that he’s been excluded from the postseason. The Dodgers instead have opted to carry veteran Enrique Hernández because of his extensive postseason track record. Hernández hasn’t disappointed — he entered Thursday with a .972 OPS this postseason.
Conforto, who spent the previous two seasons with the Giants, said it was an adjustment playing for the Dodgers, who signed him to a one-year contract worth $17 million.
“Personally, it was trying,” Conforto said of his season. “There were a lot of rough patches in there, but to be on a team of this caliber — I had to readjust the idea of the role I play on this team, so there is a little bit of an adjustment period, and toward the end of the season I started to do more of the things I needed to do in the role that I was in.
“But to see how this team compares, how they celebrate wins, let alone the star power — it’s just from top to bottom, staff and training staff, analytics, how cohesive it is, it’s really impressive to see how it all works together and the team approach that they take up there. It’s really eye-opening.”
Conforto played for the Mets for seven seasons before departing as a free agent. His journey included missing all of 2022 rehabbing an offseason shoulder injury before signing with the Giants.
His former teammates that remain with the Mets include Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo. Alonso has indicated he will opt out from his contract after the World Series, sending him to free agency for a second straight winter.
“It’s hard for me to envision him in any other colors, because that is where he’s been,” Conforto said. “I know he’s poured his heart and soul into that team.”
Conforto’s bond to Nimmo is strong — both debuted for the Mets within a year of each other after rising through the farm system.
“We were very close, we both came up around the same time and I just love seeing him evolve as a player,” Conforto said. “He’s kind of coming into some power and just an all-around great ballplayer, very smart and really prepares great. It’s cool to see some of your best buddies do well.”
Conforto said he was as surprised as anybody by the disappointing Mets season, which ended short of the playoffs.
“When they came to L.A. [in June] they were a really tough team, and it’s hard to say, the talent was there for sure,” Conforto said. “It’s not a team that we were looking forward to facing and they [won the season series] against us. They were obviously a team that needed to be paid attention to.”
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