{"id":163990,"date":"2026-03-15T09:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T09:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/163990\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T09:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T09:16:12","slug":"carson-benge-keeps-displaying-what-mets-like-in-spring-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/163990\/","title":{"rendered":"Carson Benge keeps displaying what Mets like in spring games"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2014 What the Mets like about Carson Benge \u2014 his bat-to-ball ability, solid defense in multiple outfield positions, and overall athleticism\u2014 was on display again Saturday, as the young prospect got his second start of the spring in center field and added a hard-hit, opposite-field single in an 8-2 loss to the Astros at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s looking to win a spot on the Opening Day roster<\/a> and prior to the game, manager Carlos Mendoza said he\u2019s hoping to have to make \u201csome tough decisions because we\u2019ve got a lot of guys playing well and healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benge is doing what he can to make a case for himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe continues to go out there, give good at-bats, play good defense, run the bases, [hit] left-on-left,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said. \u201cHe\u2019s doing what he\u2019s supposed to be doing on his end.\u201d<\/p>\n

And his makeup has also impressed the manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s quiet,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said. \u201cHe\u2019s a baseball guy. He doesn\u2019t get too high or too low. I don\u2019t think the moment is going to be too big for him, which is good for [him]. He goes about his business, plays baseball, goes home, comes back the next day [and] does it again. That\u2019s the biggest thing I\u2019ve learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewCarson Benge hits during the Mets\u2019 March 13 spring training game. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Mets pitching depth took a blow when Justin Hagenman was placed on the 60-day injured list with a fractured rib Saturday.<\/p>\n

The right-hander suffered the injury during his most recent Grapefruit League outing on March 5, although Mendoza said the team wasn\u2019t sure how, exactly, it occurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter his last outing, he came in and complained about soreness in that area,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said. \u201cIt continued to get worse, we decided to image it and it\u2019s a fracture, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza called it \u201ca pretty significant injury. He\u2019s gonna be down for a while. I don\u2019t know the timetable, but he\u2019ll miss some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hagenman, 29, appeared in nine games for the Mets a year ago and made one start.<\/p>\n

With the six-man rotation healthy, Tobias Myers stretched out, and prospects Jonah Tong<\/a> and Christian Scott waiting in the minors, Mendoza remains comfortable with the team\u2019s depth, though he noted the Mets will miss Hagenman\u2019s versatility.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can never have enough pitching,\u2019\u2019 the manager said. \u201cIt hurts, losing a guy like [Hagenman] who not only can start, but pitch multiple innings out of the pen. \u2026 We\u2019ll miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francisco Lindor took live batting practice for a second straight day Saturday, Mendoza said, as the shortstop works his way back from undergoing left hamate bone surgery last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All has gone according to plan for Lindor to be able to make it back by Opening Day, although president of baseball operations David Stearns has said he\u2019ll likely have to play in Grapefruit League games in order to be cleared.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDelivering insights on all things Amazin\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Asked if Lindor could potentially take that step in the coming days, Mendoza said, \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe continues to feel good,\u2019\u2019 the manager said.<\/p>\n

Richard Lovelady, the lefty who\u2019s spent the offseason bouncing between the Mets and Nationals, is back with the Mets, who claimed him off waivers Saturday.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old made 10 appearances in the majors last season, split with the Mets and Blue Jays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2014 What the Mets like about Carson Benge \u2014 his bat-to-ball ability, solid defense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6595,20,9,11,320,10,319,55941],"class_list":["post-163990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-carson-benge","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-news","tag-sports","tag-spring-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}