Carson Benge rounds the bases after hitting his first-career home run on Opening Day (Photo: Lloyd Mitchell/AMNY)
QUEENS, NY — The enormity of the moment finally hit Carson Benge when he first saw the diamond upon arriving at Citi Field on Thursday morning, and then he delivered.
The 23-year-old right-fielder officially arrived in the majors with fireworks, lining a solo home run in the sixth inning on Opening Day off Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Justin Lawrence for his first-career hit in his MLB debut.
After starting the afternoon 0-for-2 with two strikeouts and a walk, Benge jumped on a first-pitch sweeper that sat middle-middle, pulling it into the bullpens in right-center. The youngster jumped around first base to begin his trip around the bases, which ended with a curtain call at the request of the Citi Field faithful.
“Just calm down, deep breath, calm down,” Benge, who admitted to “blacking out” after his home run, said after striking out in his first two at-bats. “Just trying to bring myself back down so I can compete… This was definitely everything I thought was going to be.
His inclusion in the starting lineup alone put him in exclusive company. New York’s No. 2 prospect and the No. 16-ranked prospect in all of baseball becomes just the eighth player in Mets history to make his MLB debut in the starting lineup on Opening Day, batting eighth.
At 23 years, 65 days, he is the youngest Met to do so since Kelvin Chapman (22 years, 307 days) in 1979, and the third-youngest ever — Rod Gaspar was 23 years and five days when he started his MLB debut on Opening Day 1969.
“It’s pretty special. Getting to debut at any age is pretty special; that’s the way I look at it,” Benge told amNewYork. “But definitely being able to do it at 23 is definitely something not a lot of people can say they’ve done. Truly blessed to be able to say that I have.”
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns made it clear from the jump this offseason that Benge was going to have an opportunity to make the big-league club out of spring training. The 2025 Mets Minor League Player of the Year, he slashed .281/.385/.472 with 25 doubles, seven triples, 15 homers, 73 RBI, and 22 steals in 116 games between three levels last season.
In 41 spring at-bats, he batted .366 with an .874 OPS, five RBI, and a stolen base, while exhibiting an ability to work deep into counts and a reliable glove in right field.
“He was himself,” Stearns said. “He just demonstrated a level of consistency in everything that he did, whether that was the work off the field, his attitude in the clubhouse, the quality of his at-bats. It was just a very steady, professional camp for a guy who was under a fair amount of pressure and whose name had been in the headlines for a little while.”
Benge, an Oklahoma State product who was drafted only two years ago, will have 22 family members and friends in attendance at Citi Field for his debut.
“It means the world having all the people that have sacrificed so much for me come up and watch that happen, it’s definitely big,” Benge said.
He is giving his home run ball to his parents so he does not lose it.
For more on Carson Benge and the Mets, visit AMNY.com