Player Data: Age: 23 (1/20/2003)  B/T: L/R

Primary Stats: 156 G, 654 PA, .282/.346/.430/.776, 168 H, 22 2B, 20 HR, 65 RBI, 86 R, 22 SB, 50 BB, 142 SO

Advanced Stats: 118 OPS+, 118 wRC+, 21.7% K%, 7.6% BB%, .341 BABIP, .341 xwOBA, 4.3 fWAR, 4.3 bWAR

2026 Salary: $780,000

GRADE: A

2026 REVIEW

Throughout the offseason leading into the 2026 season, fans and media alike wondered if Carson Benge would actually make the team out of spring training. It was a natural talking point given his helium prospect status and Mets President David Stearns publicly challenging his first-round pick to earn the spot in spring training.

Benge did just that, slashing .366/.435/.439 over 14 games in spring training. He earned his spot on the roster, playing almost every day as the Mets’ right fielder. Unfortunately for the Mets, Benge’s first month, like many of his teammates, didn’t help the team win games. Over his first 21 games in the bigs, Benge slashed .136/.219/.197/.416 with only two extra-base hits in 73 plate appearances. And if you take out Opening Day (walked twice, hit a dinger and stole a base), his line drops to an even more ghastly .127/.191/.143/.334.

If not for the Mets’ putrid play through those first few weeks of the season, Benge’s struggles may not have garnered the attention they did. But since we’re in this timeline, many were calling for him to be sent back down during his brutal beginning to the year. As any fan who watched this year knows, Benge made adjustments, and those adjustments led him to go on a five-month heater.

In the 135 games from April 23 through the end of the season, Carson Benge produced the following: 

581 PA, .301/.361/.459/.821, 159 H, 21 2B, 19 HR, 62 RBI, 80 R, 16 SB, 43 BB, 124 SO

What is particularly impressive is that Benge played his best baseball over the final two months of the season:

  • March/April– .525 OPS / 47 OPS+
  • May– .801 OPS / 129 OPS+
  • June– .750 OPS / 102 OPS+
  • July– .801 OPS / 123 OPS+
  • August– .882 OPS / 146 OPS+
  • September– .874 OPS / 142 OPS+

It’s not difficult to see why folks are so bullish on the 23-year-old. After the calendar flipped to September, the media seemed to catch up to the hype, with Benge getting some dark-horse NL Rookie of the Year chatter.

The debate includes the Reds’ Sal Stewart and the Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt, but since April 23, Benge has made a compelling case as the NL’s best rookie.

NL rookie ranks since April 23: 

1st– 159 H

1st– 4.6 fWAR

1st– 80  R

2nd– 19 HR (Stewart, 24) 

2nd– 62 RBI (Stewart, 87) 

2nd– 16 SB (A.J. Ewing, 25) 

2nd– .301 BA (TJ Rumfield, .309)

3rd– .821 OPS (Rumfield, .868)

2nd– 130 wRC+ (Rumfield, 132)

2nd– .351 xwOBA (Bryce Eldridge, .359)

What truly sets Benge apart isn’t just his bat; it’s that his game is the most well-rounded when his defense and baserunning are taken into account. He led all of baseball in Arm Value and led the National League in outfield assists. If he continues at this level, Benge has a legitimate case to become one of baseball’s premier outfield arms.

He was one of four rookies who ranked in the 80th percentile or higher in all three of the batting, fielding, and baserunning Run Value metrics on Baseball Savant.

*checks notes* 

He was one of only four players in all of baseball to meet that threshold, joining infielders Otto Lopez and Bobby Witt Jr., and the NL MVP favorite and center fielder, Pete Crow-Armstrong.

2027 PREVIEW

Moving forward, Carson Benge looks like he could be a staple in the top half of the Mets’ batting order for years to come. He’s already etched his name into the Queens record books with the most hits by a rookie in franchise history (168) and as the first rookie in franchise history to record a 20/20 season.

It will be interesting to see how Benge responds now that opposing pitchers have a full year of tape to game-plan against him, and whether he can prove to be this type of player year in and year out. But perhaps the most interesting part is that Benge just finished his age-23 season. Most fans would be thrilled if he continued producing 20/20 seasons while providing 4–5 WAR a year. If the expectation is that he builds on this rookie season, though, what is Carson Benge’s ceiling?