CHICAGO -- In the hours leading up to Sunday’s game against the White Sox at Rate Field, Cubs manager Craig Counsell fielded questions about Moisés Ballesteros and the decision to hold the rookie out of the lineup. After offering some thoughts on Ballesteros and the bench, Counsell turned the spotlight elsewhere.
“We’ve got a really good option here with Michael Conforto. That’s part of this story, too,” Counsell said. “It’s just hard to deny Michael at-bats right now. It just is. That’s probably the bigger story here.”
Conforto backed up his manager’s words in the ninth inning, when he launched a game-tying, three-run homer off White Sox closer Seranthony Domínguez. The blast put the Cubs in position to leave the South Side with a series victory, but Edgar Quero’s two-run, walk-off shot off Cubs lefty Ryan Rolison in the 10th sent the North Siders to a tough 9-8 loss.
In the end, the blast did not deliver a win, but what Conforto has done of late is hard to ignore.
“You’re watching the same thing I am,” Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “It’s incredible.”
Conforto already earned cult hero status among Cubs fans with his pinch-hit, walk-off homer against the Reds on May 4 at Wrigley Field. The veteran outfielder has since become a semi-regular part of the lineup, given the steady production that began in a part-time role has continued into his starts.
Through 27 games this season, the 33-year-old Conforto has hit at a .345 clip with a 1.111 OPS (.456 on-base and .655 slugging). He has belted three homers, legged out eight doubles, collected 11 RBIs and has nearly as many walks (12) as strikeouts (15) in his 68 plate appearances out of the gates this year.
For Sunday’s game, Conforto slotted into the lineup as the designated hitter with the struggling Ballesteros (3-for-46 in his past 14 games) on the bench. Including his latest five plate appearances, he has now amassed 44% of his PAs (30 of 68) in the past 10 games. He has continued to earn trust from Counsell after joining the team on a Minor League deal during the spring.
“It means everything,” Conforto said. “I feel really grateful to be here with this group of guys. It’s a very talented group. It was a place where I wasn’t guaranteed anything, and rightfully so. We have a lot of really, really good players. Guys who can impact the game. So I just want to be ready for when my name is called and make my own impact.”
Conforto drew a walk in the third and added a single in the fifth inning. In the ninth, he connected on a 3-1 sinker from Domínguez after the reliever walked Alex Bregman and saw Seiya Suzuki reach via a throwing error by third baseman Miguel Vargas. The homer sailed out to center with an exit velocity of 107.3 mph, per Statcast.
“A game-tying homer in the ninth is about as good as it gets,” Crow-Armstrong said. “His consistency has been impressive. And again, I just love being around the guy, because he’s got a lot to offer outside of game-tying homers, walk-offs and all that stuff. We love having him here in our clubhouse and in the lineup, for sure.”
Conforto’s latest heroics effectively erased the three-run homer that White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters launched against Cubs righty Phil Maton in the eighth to put the Cubs in a 7-4 hole. Cubs starter Colin Rea (four runs allowed in 4 2/3 innings) was watching from inside the visitors’ clubhouse when Conforto came through again.
“You just had a feeling he was going to come up big there,” Rea said. “It’s been good to have him be locked in and watching his swing, it’s fun to watch. It’s going to be big for us moving forward.”
“That’s a tough spot and a big spot,” Counsell said. “And he came up with a huge hit. Pretty incredible. He’s done it twice in the ninth inning.”
The downside, of course, was that the Cubs could not make the most of Conforto’s homer.
The North Siders scratched across one run in the top of the 10th inning, but Rolison took over in the home half and left a first-pitch heater in the heart of the zone. Quero did not miss and authored the walk-off, ending what was a thrilling back-and-forth edition of the Crosstown Classic over the past three days.
“It was absolutely electric out there,” Conforto said. “It felt like playoff atmosphere. First time in this rivalry. It was pretty cool to be a part of. Definitely, that moment, it felt big. It felt like the boys were fighting all the way down to our last outs.”