Mets call up Conforto from Double-A

Anguished Mets fans found one reason for hope Friday morning when the team announced it was promoting outfielder Michael Conforto from Double-A Binghamton to make his Major League debut.

Conforto, the 10th overall pick in the 2014 Draft, will be asked to give the Mets an offensive jolt with veteran Michael Cuddyer heading to the disabled list. New York ranks last in the Majors with a team batting average of .233 and slugging percentage of .357.

The Mets were initially conservative with Conforto's development: while fellow first-rounder Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs burned through three levels in the summer of 2014, Conforto spent all of his first pro season with Class A Short Season Brooklyn, where he hit .331/.403/.448 in 42 games.

But the Oregon State product skipped ove ther full-season Class A level to open the 2015 campaign with St. Lucie in the Florida State League. Conforto earned Player of the Week honors in that league twice before his late-May promotion to Binghamton, where his numbers have been even better: .312/.396/.503 in 45 Eastern League games.

Invited to the All-Star Futures Game in Cincinnati on July 12, Conforto went 2-for-2 and scored a run in the U.S. team's 10-1 win. Conforto was named EL Player of the Week on Monday after piling up seven hits -- four of them for extra bases -- in four games last week.

MLB.com currently rates Conforto as the No. 3 Mets prospect -- behind Binghamton teammate Brandon Nimmo -- and No. 64 overall, though those rankings were made before Conforto's assault on Double-A pitching. He's probably limited to left field defensively but has an advanced approach at the plate -- he's fanned 61 times and drawn 40 walks in 91 Minor League games this season -- and should provide the Mets with some much-needed power.