Carson Benge has a chance to make the Mets‘ Opening Day roster this spring, and the young outfielder is taking steps to prepare himself for that opportunity.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported Thursday that Benge is already in Port St. Lucie — almost a month before the Mets’ Feb. 16 full squad report date — after spending time during the offseason working on his hitting with the Holliday family at Oklahoma State — that’s, of course, Orioles star Jackson and his father Matt.
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Benge has shown promise in the minors and is regarded as one of the organization’s top prospects. He has enough upside to have caught David Stearns‘ attention and the president of baseball operations declared that Benge will have a chance to break camp with the squad.
“Carson Benge is going to come into spring training with a chance to make our team, and we’ll see where the offseason takes us beyond that,” Stearns said back in November.
“When you have good players at the upper levels of the minor leagues, we have to find space for those players to play. Carson is among them. He’s not the only one, but he’s among them. So, as we build out our team, we have to ensure that as we move forward, there is room for our young players to get to the major leagues when they deserve to get there, and have a chance to really contribute to our major league team.”
Of course, a lot has changed with the Mets’ roster since Stearns made those comments, especially with the outfield.
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Stearns swung a trade with the White Sox to bring Luis Robert Jr. over to, presumably, play center field. That leaves left field open for Benge, or any other outfield option on the roster, to take this opportunity.
But after the addition of Robert Jr., Stearns is sticking with what he said months ago.
“With Carson, I’ve been clear all offseason he has a chance to make the club and Robert’s addition doesn’t change that,” Stearns said Thursday. “We’re going to give him a chance to make the club out of camp. Doesn’t mean he is, but we’ll give him a chance.”
Other options for left field include Tyrone Taylor and even Brett Baty, who will play the super-utility role after the addition of Bo Bichette to play third base.
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Stearns’ comments reveal his confidence in Benge to potentially compete for that spot, no matter what the current roster looks like. But it’s not just Stearns’ words that illustrate his belief in the young outfielder.
In the same report from Rosenthal and Sammon, Benge was “never seriously on the table” during trade conversations for Freddy Peralta.
Benge started last season with High-A Brooklyn but ended up playing 24 games for Triple-A Syracuse before the season came to a close. The 2024 first-round pick — and the first draft selection made by Stearns in New York — struggled once he arrived in Syracuse, putting up just a .583 OPS. But Benge had an overall solid full season as a pro, posting an .857 OPS with 15 home runs and 73 RBI across all three levels.
