Minors Weekly Report: Carson Benge Highlights Prospect Promotions

Congratulations are in order for Mets 2024 first-round pick Carson Benge, who received a promotion to Double-A Binghamton following a sustained stretch of great play since the beginning of the season. Joining Benge in earning a promotion are Jacob Reimer, who will go with Benge to Binghamton, and Colin Houck, whose spectacular recent play earned him a promotion to High-A Brooklyn. Relievers Luis Moreno and Alex Carillo are headed to Triple-A and reliever Brian Metoyer will be added to the Binghamton roster.

Triple-A

The Syracuse Mets lost their third straight series this past week, dropping four of six games against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. It’s been a first half of the season to forget for Syracuse, who is 31-44 and seventh out of 10 teams in the International League East division.

Luke Ritter had a fantastic week at the plate, tying for the team lead with six hits. Ritter recorded two doubles and a home run, two RBIs, and three runs. Despite owning a .730 OPS for the season, Ritter has swung to an .879 OPS over his last 29 games.

Gilberto Celestino and Yonny Hernández also looked good, demonstrating strong plate discipline. Celestino went 5-for-14 while Hernández went 6-for-12, and each drew five walks while striking out just twice. Celestino has batted to a .758 OPS this year, and Hernández has an .807 OPS with Syracuse despite a poor start to the year in Binghamton.

Sean Manaea had a strong rehab appearance for Syracuse, allowing a run over 5 1/3 innings. He allowed just two hits, no walks, and struck out seven. Manaea has looked bumpy in two of his rehab appearances but great in the other two, and he’ll undoubtedly be a giant piece of the Mets’ rotation down the stretch.

Brandon Waddell made two appearances including one start against Jacksonville. In his first appearance of the week, Waddell allowed one run and struck out five over 2 2/3 innings. In his start, Waddell tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out four. Waddell has been solid whenever pitching for Syracuse, owning a 3.27 ERA in 11 appearances.

Nolan McLean continued his Triple-A success with a start of two runs over five innings with six strikeouts. Over eight appearances and six starts since joining Syracuse, McLean has a 2.68 ERA. Overall, his ERA is a stellar 2.19.

Kevin Parada. Photo by Bronson Harris of Binghamton Rumble Ponies

Double-A

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies split their six-game series with the Harrisburg Senators in a very even series that saw them score 28 runs and give up 29. The Rumble Ponies hold a 10-game lead in the Eastern League Northeast division at 45-22.

Nick Morabito had a stellar week as he continues to improve upon his rough start to the year. Morabito went 10-for-23 with three doubles, seven RBIs, three walks, five stolen bases, and five runs scored. Morabito has recorded a .928 OPS in his last 36 games to bring his season OPS up to .804.

Jett Williams also had a good week, despite cooling down a bit. He still went 7-for-22 with two doubles, six walks, and three stolen bases. He also led the team with seven runs scored. Williams’ OPS for the year is now .921.

Kevin Parada had another solid series, going 6-for-19 with a double and two RBIs. He dealt with some strikeouts though, tallying 11 over his five games played. Still, Parada improved his OPS which now sits at .717.

Jonah Tong put together a routine start of 7 2/3 innings, no runs allowed, and 11 strikeouts against the Senators. And yes, that kind of start has been routine for Tong this year. He allowed just two hits and a walk and lowered his ERA on the year to 1.75. Tong continues to prove himself as not only one of the best pitchers in the Mets’ system, but in all of the minor leagues.

Jack Wenninger made a good start, allowing a run over five innings while striking out eight. The 2023 sixth-round pick is having a breakout season with a 2.85 ERA.

Douglas Orellana and Cameron Foster, a couple of relievers having elite seasons with Binghamton, continued their success with 2 1/3 scoreless innings each in this previous series. Orellana made two appearances, allowing one hit and striking out five. Foster threw his scoreless innings in just one outing, and it was perfect as he did not allow a baserunner and struck out four batters. Orellana has a 1.93 ERA in 21 appearances, while Foster has a 1.53 ERA in 13 appearances with Binghamton.

Carson Benge. Photo via Brooklyn Cyclones

High-A

The Brooklyn Cyclones had a fantastic week against the Aberdeen IronBirds, winning five of six games. The series was lopsided, with Brooklyn outscoring Aberdeen 33-16.

Chris Suero was Brooklyn’s clear best player of the series, going 9-for-19 with a double, a triple, two home runs, eight RBIs, two walks, and a stolen base. Suero also tied for the team lead with five runs scored. Suero has mostly cooled down after a rollicking first few weeks of the season, but he has his OPS back up to .858. Suero was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week.

Carson Benge and Eli Serrano, a pair of top draft picks in 2024, also had great weeks. Benge went 6-for-21 with a triple, five walks to just one strikeout, and three stolen bases. Serrano went 7-for-17 with two doubles and an RBI, and he tied Suero with five runs scored. Benge owns a .897 OPS while Serrano owns an even .800 OPS.

Noah Hall twirled a gem, allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings while striking out eight. Hall walked six batters, a concerning number over seven innings, but he didn’t allow any of his baserunners to score. Hall has been excellent this year, owning a 2.27 ERA in 14 games.

Jonathan Santucci made two starts and pitched excellently in each one. He threw a total of 10 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, two walks, and 11 strikeouts. Santucci has completely turned his season around, owning a 1.03 ERA over his last seven games after recording an 8.14 ERA over his first six. Overall, his ERA sits at 3.70.

Nate Dohm also shined, striking out eight over four scoreless innings. Selected one round after Santucci in last year’s draft, Dohm owns a 2.50 ERA in 13 starts, including a 1.64 ERA in six starts with Brooklyn.

Brooks Raley. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Low-A

The St. Lucie Mets split their six-game series with the Palm Beach Cardinals. After dropping the first three games of the series, the Mets salvaged a disaster by rebounding to win the next three. The Mets remain in first place in the Florida State League East division at 37-31.

Colin Houck had another really good week on his way to earning his promotion to High-A Brooklyn. Houck went 6-for-20 with three doubles, five walks, two stolen bases, and six runs. He ends his time in St. Lucie with an .812 OPS, including an .890 OPS over his last 40 games.

Yonatan Henriquez also had a good series, going 6-for-19 with a double, a home run, a stolen base, and four runs. Henriquez has mostly struggled this year to the tune of a .655 OPS.

Wellington Aracena had a phenomenal start, striking out eight over five hitless innings. His only baserunners allowed were on two walks. Aracena has shined for St. Lucie’s pitching staff this year as he owns a 2.87 ERA in 13 games. He was named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week.

Franklin Gomez finished out the game that Aracena started with three hitless innings of his own, striking out four, with a hit batter being his lone blemish. Gomez has recorded a 2.83 ERA in nine games this year.

Brooks Raley made two rehab appearances and looked solid in both of them. Raley tossed two innings, allowing two hits, no walks, and striking out four. Raley has not pitched in the big leagues this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024, but he’s looking to re-join the Mets as their top lefty option out of the bullpen.

FCL Mets

The FCL Mets went 3-4 this past week to move to 13-21 on the year. They remain in last place in the Florida Complex League East division, 2.5 games behind the fourth-place team.

Randy Guzman had a great week to continue his impressive start to the year, going 5-for-16 with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs, and three walks. The 20-year-old, who signed with the Mets in 2022, owns an .838 OPS in 30 games.

Jace Hampson made two impressive starts, allowing one earned run over eight innings while striking out nine. The 18th-round pick from a year ago has a 2.52 ERA in eight appearances with the FCL Mets.

DSL Mets

The DSL Mets Orange went 3-2 this past week to move their record to 10-5. Meanwhile, the DSL Mets Blue also went 3-2 and improved their record to 5-10.

All eyes are on Elian Peña, who appears to be settling in after having a long hitless stretch to begin his professional career. He didn’t have a fantastic week, but he went 4-for-16 with two doubles, five walks, and two stolen bases. Despite hitting a home run in a game two weeks ago, it is not yet attributed to his stats due to that game being suspended and continued at a later date. As of now, he has a .432 OPS through 15 games.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – A.J. Ewing (STL/BRK) – .322

OPS – Jett Williams (BNG) – .921

HR – Jon Singleton (SYR)/Ryan Clifford (BNG) – 12

SB – A.J. Ewing (STL/BRK) – 47

Pitching

ERA – Jonah Tong (BNG) – 1.75

SO – Jonah Tong (BNG) – 107

WHIP – Zach Thornton (BRK/BNG) – 0.798

Players of the Week

Offense – Chris Suero, C/1B/LF Brooklyn

Chris Suero got off to such a hot start to begin the year, recording a 1.334 OPS in his first 10 games and a .936 OPS in his first 23 games. He then had a stretch of 30 games prior to this previous series where he had a .679 OPS, cooling down a bit but he appears to have heated up again. Suero recorded just a .703 OPS in Brooklyn and a .730 OPS overall a year ago, so the improvement has been drastic.

Pitching – Jonah Tong, P Binghamton

Jonah Tong is at a point where it’s a surprise if he doesn’t completely dominate his opponent. It’s become a weekly occurrence to see him put up double-digit strikeouts with few baserunners or runs allowed. The righty has made it look extremely easy in Binghamton, and it’s possible a promotion to Syracuse is not too far away.