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Conforto opened the scoring in the ballgame with a 411-foot (103.2-mph EV) solo shot off of Ryan Gusto in the third inning. He also led off the sixth inning with a single and scored on a two-out RBI knock from Michael Busch that proved to be the difference in the ballgame. The 33-year-old outfielder is now hitting .240/.332/.489 with 14 long balls and 38 RBI in 256 plate appearances on the year.

Conforto’s home run was his 12th of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Diamondbacks reliever Taylor Clarke in the sixth inning. Merrill Kelly was one out away from completing the sixth inning, but the D-backs went to their bullpen and it immediately backfired as Clarke allowed the home run to Conforto. He’s hitting .232 with a .799 OPS and 33 RBI.

Conforto put the Cubs on the board with a three-run homer off Michael McGreevy in the second inning. After striking out in the fourth inning, he was lifted for a pinch-hitter against a left-handed pitcher in the seventh. The home run was Conforto’s 10th of the season while hitting .232/.322/.459 with 30 RBI across 214 plate appearances.

The two homers were part of eight the Cubs hit on the afternoon, which tied a franchise record. Conforto recorded some impressive Statcast metrics earlier in the year but wasn’t playing consistently as recently as a little over a week ago. With Matt Shaw injured and Moises Ballesteros at Triple-A, Conforto has started against five of the past six righties Chicago has faced. Wednesday’s outburst should keep him cemented in a strong-side platoon role.

Conforto finished the afternoon 2-for-4 with the homer, three RBI, and a walk. In 27 games this year he’s hitting .345 with a 1.111 OPS, including some of the best expected stats in MLB. Despite the early success, he’s struggled to earn consistent playing time even against righties as Moisés Ballesteros has operated as the primary DH for most of the season so far. Conforto’s playing time should continue to tick up for as long as he hits this well, but it could take an injury for him to factor into more consistent at-bats, and that likely wouldn’t include time against lefties.

Getting the nod with Seiya Suzuki resting, Conforto had three of the Cubs’ seven hits in this one. He’s batting .361/.467/.667 in 45 plate appearances. There’s still not really any good way for the Cubs to squeeze him into the lineup regularly, but he probably deserves to play over Matt Shaw whenever a starting outfielder sits.

Nico Hoerner won the game on a sac fly in the 10th. The Cubs never gave Conforto a start against his former team in the sweep of the Mets. In fact, he hasn’t been in the lineup for any of the team’s last seven games. Still, he came through nicely today against Devin Williams, and he’s hitting .304/.448/.435 in 29 plate appearances this season. He probably should be starting regularly against righties for some team right now, but the Cubs aren’t that team and no one else seemed interested in making it happen over the winter.

Conforto winds up getting a spot on Chicago’s season-opening roster following knee injuries to Seiya Suzuki and Tyler Austin. The 33-year-old veteran struggled with the Dodgers last year but he should continue to get opportunities against right-handed pitchers.

The Cubs will need to add Conforto to the 40-man roster, and that will likely come closer to Opening Day than not. The 33-year-old didn’t exactly tear up the Cactus League with a .635 OPS coming into Saturday, but he did enough to win a job with Seiya Suzuki (knee) and Tyler Austin (knee) both unavailable to begin the year. Conforto should see playing time against right-handed pitching, but his lack of success since 2020 makes him a wait-and-see option at best.

No word yet on whether it’s a guaranteed contract or a minor league deal. Conforto was a big disappointment for the Dodgers last year, but his exit velocity numbers weren’t so bad. With the Cubs, he’s a potential fallback to Moisés Ballesteros in the DH role or possibly a fourth outfielder ahead of Chas McCormick or Matt Shaw. Considering that the rest of the Cubs’ potential bench guys are right-handed hitters, his left-handed bat might come in handy.

Conforto would presumably challenge Joey Loperfido or Zach Cole in a corner outfield spot if signed. It should be noted that Conforto is no lock to win that battle coming into Spring Training late after hitting .199/.305/.333 for the Dodgers in 2025, disappointing the club so much that they decided to give Kyle Tucker a megacontract to forget about Conforto. This is the first blurb we have on Conforto since the White Sox expressed interest in him in January.

Conforto, 32, disappointed during his lone season with the Dodgers, slashing a meager .199/.305/.333 with 12 homers and 36 RBI in 486 plate appearances. Any chances of a potential return to the Dodgers were likely squashed on Thursday when they agreed to a mega deal with Kyle Tucker. He represents an affordable way for the White Sox to add some left-handed thump to the middle of their lineup.

Justin Dean makes the roster in his place. This suggests the Dodgers will typically go with an Andy Pages-Tommy Edman-Teoscar Hernandez outfield in October. Conforto hit .199/.305/.333 in 486 plate appearances this season. He came in at .246/.347/.344 in September.

Conforto finally snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh inning with an RBI single off of Trevor McDonald that plated Max Muncy. Unfortunately, that lead would be short lived and the Dodgers weren’t able to muster any additional offense. It has been a rough season overall for Conforto in his first year with the Dodgers, he’s slashing a woeful .203/.304/.342 with 12 homers and 36 RBI in 466 plate appearances.

Conforto didn’t even start the game with left-hander Robbie Ray on the hill for the Giants, but he entered as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning and delivered a two-run single that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 5-1. Conforto also singled in the sixth inning and then added an RBI single off of J.T. Brubaker in the eighth inning. With his three-hit attack, the 32-year-old outfielder is now hitting .200/.305/.336 with 11 homers and 34 RBI over 453 plate appearances in what has been a disappointing season with the Dodgers.

Conforto was responsible for the only run of the game for the Dodgers, as he homered off Justin Verlander in the seventh to tie the game at a run a piece. The outfielder has gone deep 11 times, but even with the roundtripper he’s slashing an ugly .193/.297/.331 in his first season with Los Angeles.