It might be expected that Ewing might have been a little wobbly after the play, but the rookie insisted he was fine \u2014 and is now more inclined to go hard after shots like that at Citi Field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great,\u2019\u2019 Ewing said of the possible aftereffects of the play. \u201cThe wall has a good amount of give. I think I could run into that thing at 30 mph and be all right. I won\u2019t try it, but I like the odds.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/makes-nice-catch-ball-hit-129323019.jpg\")
Mets center fielder A.J. Ewing (9) makes a nice catch on a ball hit by Miami Marlins first baseman Connor Norby (1) in the fourth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field, Sunday, May 31, 2026. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
The Mets loved Ewing\u2019s athleticism as he rocketed up their minor league system and they were confident he\u2019d be able to handle the rigors of jumping to the majors so soon in his professional career because of his attitude and grittiness.<\/p>\n
His fellow rookie, Benge, has similar attributes and nearly made a diving catch in right-center Sunday.<\/p>\n
Their fearlessness was noted by Soto, who said he treats the pair as peers rather than taking a teacher\/pupil role.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t try to be a mentor,\u201d Soto said. \u201cI try to be one of them. They are a part of this. It\u2019s the first time for them being in the big leagues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Ewing and Benge likely will never approach Soto\u2019s standards at the plate, they can still have a significant impact.<\/p>\n
Benge followed a three-hit performance Saturday by getting on base twice \u2014 including a leadoff homer \u2014 Sunday.<\/p>\n
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The first-inning blast, his fourth of the year, was also the lefty-swinging Benge\u2019s first against a left-handed pitcher.<\/p>\n
Ewing has faltered of late offensively, with no extra-base hits in his last dozen games and 17 strikeouts in that span \u2014 including three Sunday \u2014 but he also walked and scored a run.<\/p>\n
Plus, there\u2019s the defense.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/celebrates-new-york-mets-right-129327361.jpg\")
Mets left fielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates with right fielder Carson Benge (3) after he scores on his grand slam in the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field, Sunday, May 31, 2026 Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a game-changer,\u2019\u2019 Carlos Mendoza said. \u201cPart of the reason the pitching staff is having this success is they\u2019re making the plays in the outfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus Semien has a unique viewpoint of what Ewing and Benge are doing defensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of those balls are hit over my head [at second base] and feel like doubles and triples and they run them down,\u201d Semien said. \u201cTheir talent is through the roof. Experience is how they get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
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And after Ewing\u2019s acrobatic play Sunday left him unharmed, he insisted he\u2019ll do it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving gone into the wall like that and being OK, I\u2019m even more confident about doing it,\u201d Ewing said. \u201cI\u2019m definitely not gonna be afraid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Juan Soto isn\u2019t known for his glove, but even he knows excellent defense when he sees it. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[77480,6595,20390,37495,20,9,11,320,10,319],"class_list":["post-250433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-a-j-ewing","tag-carson-benge","tag-juan-soto","tag-miami-marlins","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250433","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=250433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}