Michael Conforto has the opportunity to put his dreadful 2025 season in the past.
The now-Chicago Cubs outfielder spoke about getting the news that he had made the team as they get set to break spring training.
Conforto played 138 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers, mainly in left field, posting a minus-0.7 bWAR and slashing just .199/.305/.333 while playing on a one-year, $17 million contract. He did not make the Dodgers postseason roster for any of the four rounds on their run to their second straight World Series title.
Conforto, still just 33, signed with the Cubs as a non-roster invitee but was informed he had made the Cubs on Sunday.
Chicago will close camp Tuesday, after its second game at Sloan Park in Arizona against the New York Yankees, and will host the Washington Nationals on Thursday on opening day at Wrigley Field.
Michael Conforto ‘Felt Like a Prospect’ When Craig Counsell Told him he Made the Cubs
Some of the best clips on social media this time of the year involve MLB prospects finding out they had made their first opening-day roster.
But Conforto, who has been a mainstay in the majors since breaking in with the New York Mets in 2015, took reporters on a trip back in time when he was asked to describe his feelings about making the Cubs in 2026.
“It still felt like I was a prospect,” Conforto said, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. “Last time I was told I made the team, I was 24. It kind of felt like that. Excitement. Relief. All those feelings come back. It’s a little different now, because I have a wife and two kids and responsibilities. Now, I get to tell my wife, ‘Hey, we are going. We can plan on everything.’”
Conforto posted a .708 OPS and had just one RBI with the Cubs during training camp but will break camp with Chicago due to Seiya Suzuki’s knee injury. Suzuki sustained the injury while representing Japan at the World Baseball Classic and will not be available for opening day.
Conforto was confident he would end up making the team but was unsure without a contract.
“I was confident,” Conforto said. “I felt like I did all the right things, but you still have to come out here and perform and show you can be a part of this team.”
The Cubs Have More Roster Decisions to Make Before Opening Day
Conforto knows he will be on the Cubs roster Thursday. But the Cubs still have some roster spots up for grabs.
“We have some decisions,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Sunday, according to Bastian. “I thought I might be able to give you guys a sense of exactly what’s happening when we leave here on Tuesday, but we still have some balls in the air with the bullpen and the bench.”
Conforto is likely to be the Cubs’ opening day starter in right field, and his left-handedness provides them a huge lift, since Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong and switch-hitter Ian Happ are the only left-handed hitters in Chicago’s starting lineup.
But Conforto also knows the journey is just beginning with the Cubs.
“We’ve got a lot of talent in this camp, and I do think [making the Cubs] is an accomplishment,” Conforto told Marquee Sports on Sunday. “The work’s not done though, that’s for sure. I still have to show that I can be a part of this team and contribute.”
Cubs Veteran Michael Conforto Sends Strong Message After Making Opening Day Roster