The Mets had a handful of players with strong showings in the last month of the season. A couple of rookies were chief among them, and one is making a real case to take home the Rookie of the Year award. One other Met is trying to cement a role on the 2027 team.

Carson Benge by Berto Carlo

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE MONTH: CARSON BENGE, OF

Carson Benge has had a tremendous rookie year, injecting hope into a beleaguered fanbase as the forefront of a rising core of young talent. In the month of September, Benge slashed .313/.394/.479/.874 with four home runs, 11 RBIs, and three stolen bases. He accumulated a 147 wRC+ and also a 1.1 fWAR, which ranks in the top 13 in all of MLB, tied with big names like Ben Rice, Jackson Merrill and Zach Neto.

For the season, it’s a .282/.346/.430/.776 slash with 20 home runs, 22 doubles, 22 stolen bases, and a 118 wRC+. Benge also finished with five Defensive Runs Saved in right field and scored an eight in Fielding Run Value, which is in the 85th percentile among all fielders. All those numbers accumulated to a 4.3 fWAR for the season, ranked ahead of players such as Corbin Carroll and James Wood. It was an incredible rookie season put together by Carson Benge, and it could be the budding of the next Mets star.

Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

PITCHER OF THE MONTH: JONAH TONG, SP

A bit of a surprise here, but Jonah Tong is the pitcher of the month in the month of September. Between Tong and Nolan McLean it was essentially splitting hairs, but Tong has actually been more valuable. His fWAR was 0.7, which is the best on the team, just ahead of McLean’s 0.5 fWAR. Tong may have had a slightly higher ERA, but his K/9(11.76), BB/9(3.05), and FIP(2.42) were better than McLean’s marks. His K/9 was 8th in MLB, and his FIP was 13th, which are both very impressive marks, striking out more batters than even Jacob Misiorowski, Cam Schlittler, and Zack Wheeler.

Tong has really shown in the last month why the Mets still believe greatly in him as part of the future. Punching out batters and limiting walks/home runs was a great emphasis for Tong throughout his prolonged stint in the minor leagues. The key was getting his fastball back to being elite while also being able to throw a pitch that moves glove-side more. If he has fully figured out his pitch arsenal and his command in the major leagues, then that mitigates the Mets’ need for pitching help a bit this offseason. Jonah Tong joining the group of McLean, Christian Scott, and Zac Thornton as established big-league starters would be a welcome sight for this franchise.

Apr 15, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets third base Brett Baty reacts after hitting a single against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

HONORABLE MENTION: BRETT BATY, INF

It’s understandable the amount of frustration Mets fans have with Brett Baty, and with the “Baby Mets” as a whole. It does seem very likely that Baty carved himself a role on the 2027 team as a versatile weapon, a role that he filled out very well in the second half. He was arguably the second-best position player in the final month of the season, along with rookie A.J. Ewing. Both had the same fWAR(0.8), but Baty had been putting up elite surface and under-the-hood numbers offensively, which gave him the edge.

In 60 plate appearances to finish off the year, Brett Baty slashed .333/.417/.608/1.025 with three home runs, five doubles, and a whopping 16 RBIs in only 21 games. The underlying numbers also show that Baty was making elite-quality contact in that sample size, as he had a .434 wOBA compared to a .432 xwOBA. Since July 1, Baty’s bat speed on average increased from 74.8 mph to 75.8, which is a full mph more. His average exit velocity increased from 88.9 to 92.4 while his max exit velocity jumped from 111.7 to 114.0. Baty is also grounding the ball less than ever by a wide margin (31.7%) and hitting fly balls more than he’s ever done (42.1%). Can the Mets truly give him an every-day spot because of this sample? No, but they can certainly have Baty build on this success and make him earn his way to more playing time.