{"id":485746,"date":"2026-02-23T13:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/485746\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:40:11","slug":"this-could-give-mets-carson-benge-the-edge-in-battle-for-right-field-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/485746\/","title":{"rendered":"This could give Mets\u2019 Carson Benge the edge in battle for right field job"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA \u2014 Nobody with the Mets<\/a> is advocating for Carson Benge, the organization\u2019s top position player prospect<\/a>, to struggle.<\/p>\n

It goes without saying, but in a perfect scenario for the Mets, Benge excels at every level. He\u2019d carry that success from the minor leagues into big-league camp, his first taste of MLB action and beyond, never looking back.<\/p>\n

What Benge experienced in Triple-A towards the end of this past season, however, was productive in preparing him for what he\u2019ll encounter in a Mets uniform. <\/p>\n

The same can be said about Benge\u2019s spring debut against the Yankees on Sunday at Steinbrenner Field.<\/p>\n

Nobody is immune to failure. Not in this game.<\/p>\n

After four-plus months of brilliance with High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton to begin his first full season in pro ball, Benge finished the year as a .174 hitter in Triple-A with a .583 OPS.<\/p>\n

The underlying metrics with the Mets\u2019 affiliate in Syracuse were better than those surface numbers would indicate, but even when Benge was rattling off quality at-bats and hitting balls on the screws, he wasn\u2019t getting the results he wanted.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, in his first-ever appearance in a Mets spring training game, Benge was 0-for-3 and he didn\u2019t hit the ball out of the infield. In his third at-bat, Benge bounced into a 6-6-3 double play to kill a rally in the fourth, a grounder to shortstop against lefty submarine reliever Tim Hill.<\/p>\n

When a player is as talented as Benge and has had as much success as the 23-year-old phenom, O-fers are more of a rarity. Once Benge gets to the big leagues, whether that\u2019s on Opening Day next month or later on in 2026, those zeros will be more magnified than ever before, especially with the hype attached to a potential homegrown star.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the long run, it\u2019s good for him to experience a little bit of what he went through in Syracuse,\u201d Mets director of major league hitting Jeff Albert told NJ.com<\/a> at Mets camp recently. \u201cWe really talked about it. The ball is not going to fall in all the time or there\u2019s adjustments that you\u2019ll need to make on your swing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching Benge endure and work through that stretch in Triple-A solidified the Mets\u2019 scouting report on the outfielder\u2019s makeup. Mets senior vice president of player development Andy Green mentioned that Benge showed he can keep it simple and stay committed to his process. It reminded him of another top prospect and early-round draft pick at Mets camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy when those types of things happen to our guys in the minor leagues,\u201d Green said. \u201cIt\u2019s reference points for them. I look back with Nolan McLean in Double-A two years ago. I think he was sitting with an ERA north of a four and hadn\u2019t won a game in 11 starts. Turned out all right for him so far! Those moments of external adversity, they\u2019re good for players.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the consensus from those at Mets camp who are familiar with Benge\u2019s game. He has a sixth tool, an ability to stay even-keeled through the peaks and valleys of a long baseball season. And while he\u2019s never experienced those highs and lows with the added pressure in New York, there are no concerns. The Mets are oozing with confidence when it comes to Benge\u2019s temperament and his ability to handle all that will come his way in a Mets uniform without overthinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the greatest compliments you can give a baseball player is that they keep it simple and don\u2019t overcomplicate it,\u201d Green said. \u201cThere\u2019s a ton of wisdom and baseball acumen in that approach and he is that way. He\u2019s a very simple guy. He just wants to play baseball and he\u2019s good at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarson can can take the 0-for-4 and his world didn\u2019t end. He doesn\u2019t get on top of the mountaintop when he goes 4-for-4. It\u2019s just a game. It\u2019s actually a really healthy way to break in to the big leagues. You take the days as they come, and you just keep playing your game.\u201d<\/p>\n

That personality trait could go a long way for Benge as the competition for the Mets\u2019 starting right field job heats up over these next few weeks. <\/p>\n

The Mets won\u2019t make their decision between Benge and the other options at camp \u2014 like Mike Tauchman, Brett Baty and MJ Melendez \u2014 solely based on Grapefruit League numbers. President of baseball operations David Stearns made that clear shortly after camp began earlier this month. <\/p>\n

It obviously won\u2019t hurt if he hits .350, racks up stolen bases and plays elite defense, but there\u2019s a scenario here where Benge\u2019s slash line and overall play is underwhelming and he still wins the job. That would be because of his work behind the scenes, his development in key areas of his game as well as other factors out of his control. <\/p>\n

Benge told NJ.com earlier this spring that he\u2019s been able to flush bad games and take on a campaign with an unwavering one-game-at-a-time mindset for as long as he can remember. That makes it easier for him to be so calm as he tries to show the Mets he\u2019s worthy of his first big-league call-up. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to make the most of it,\u201d Benge said of his opportunity this spring. \u201cNot trying to do too much, just trying to stay within myself and meet everyone I can try and create relationships with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, what about Benge\u2019s on-field player profile?<\/p>\n

Why should the Mets make Benge their starting right fielder?<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a tough time finding anything he didn\u2019t do well,\u201d fellow top prospect Ryan Clifford said with a grin on Sunday.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s in line with what higher-ups in the org believe as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the overall skill set and the peripheral numbers,\u201d Albert said, \u201cand he\u2019s done so many things well that it gives you confidence in that ability to do so many different things in the major leagues. He\u2019s hit righties, he\u2019s hit lefties, he\u2019s hit fastballs, he\u2019s hit breaking balls, he hits line drives, he takes walks, he uses the whole field. It\u2019s just a very well-rounded and strong skill set in every area to this point. With that, plus the competitiveness and the attitude, is a lot of reason for confidence in his ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green concurred, leaving plenty of room for Benge to blossom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see him as someone who can be above average at every facet of the game that we value,\u201d Green said. \u201cFrom a hitting perspective, from a swing decision perspective, from a power perspective, from a defensive perspective, from a base running perspective. He can be above average in all of those things. That\u2019s the bar he needs to get to. He\u2019s not there yet, but when you think of where he\u2019s come already, he\u2019s demonstrated a lot of aptitude. He\u2019s grown a lot already and he\u2019s already proven resilient handling all the small ups and downs that come his way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Nobody with the Mets is advocating for Carson Benge, the organization\u2019s top position player prospect, to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-485746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485746","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=485746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}