TAMPA \u2014 Mets fans weren\u2019t the only ones waiting to get their eyes on Carson Benge on Sunday.<\/p>\n
So was Carlos Mendoza.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to watch him play for the first time \u2014 other than on video,\u201d the manager said before Benge made his Grapefruit League debut for the Mets in a 6-4 win over the Yankees at Steinbrenner Field.<\/p>\n
There were no highlights from the 23-year-old, who started in right field and led off, but that\u2019s not what the Mets are looking for.<\/p>\n
After their 2024 first-round draft pick shot up the minor league system last year \u2014 his first full season in professional baseball\u2014 expectations were only heightened when president of baseball operations David Stearns said in November that Benge \u201cis going to come into spring training with a chance to make our team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carson Benge (l.) runs to first base during the Mets\u2019 Feb. 22 Grapefruit League game. Charles Wenzelberg<\/p>\n
And then Stearns\u2019 actions backed that up, as Brandon Nimmo was traded to the Rangers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Luis Robert Jr. was acquired from the White Sox to play center<\/a>, but there remains a vacancy in right field \u2014 now that Juan Soto is in left<\/a> \u2014 for Benge.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019m gonna try and be me \u2014 and nothing else,\u201d Benge said before the game. \u201cAnd let things work out for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n The lefty-swinging Benge opened with a pair of rough at-bats against Yankees right-hander Luis Gil before facing left-handed sidearmer Tim Hill.<\/p>\n For Benge, who\u2019s played just 131 games in the minors after two seasons at Oklahoma State as a two-way player, the argument could be made that he needs more experience before he\u2019s ready for Queens.<\/p>\n Carson Benge participates in a fielding drill during the Mets\u2019 Feb. 19 session during spring training. Corey Sipkin for NY Post<\/p>\n Whether that can be accomplished in time for Opening Day remains to be seen, but the skill set has impressed scouts, who nearly universally believe Benge has a shot at success in the majors soon \u2014 if not by the end of March.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Day 1 and we want him to be himself, compete, play [his] game and don\u2019t try to do too much,\u201d Mendoza said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And instead of focusing on results, the manager pointed to \u201cquality of at-bats, laying off pitches, baserunning [and] defense.\u201d<\/p>\n Benge struggled for stretches after his mid-August call-up to Triple-A Syracuse and endured an 0-for-24 stretch before finishing the season better.<\/p>\n Carson Benge makes a throw from the outfield during the Mets\u2019 Feb. 19 session at spring training. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s unusual for a player to jump to the majors after just 24 games at Triple-A.<\/p>\n But his mind is on making the Opening Day roster.<\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely,\u201d Benge said. \u201cI want to come in here, do my best, be myself, and whatever happens, happens.\u201d<\/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 And whatever happens, the spotlight will remain on Benge, and Mendoza will be watching to see how he handles it.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to see how he handles adversity,\u201d Mendoza said of the outfielder, who began last season at High-A Brooklyn. \u201cHe\u2019s gonna go through it. It\u2019s always tough, especially when there\u2019s so much out there. There could be a lot of noise \u2014 good or bad. It\u2019s part of the process. You could have a great camp or you could go out there and it\u2019s hard for you. But one thing we told him is to control what you control and let the people that make the decisions make the decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Benge said he\u2019s aware of the organization\u2019s stated confidence in him \u2014 and also knows that will only get him so far.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d Benge said. \u201cNo matter what, I\u2019ll still try to be myself and play the game like I\u2019ve always played it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Mets fans weren\u2019t the only ones waiting to get their eyes on Carson Benge on Sunday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[97187,363,1189,99,63077],"class_list":["post-485026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-carson-benge","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-sports","tag-spring-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}