PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A group of fans carrying binders full of notes and markers full of ink lined up against a gate on Wednesday during an early spring training workout to watch Carson Benge hit.
The fans screamed his name whenever he readied to hit, then begged him to sign something whenever he wasn’t. The New York Mets’ biggest stars, Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette, haven’t yet arrived at Clover Park, the club’s spring training home. This early moment in mid-February belongs to Benge, the 23-year-old hotshot prospect who holds a chance at cracking the Mets’ roster. While on the field, Benge never looks toward the gate at the group of fans. He just waits to hit. And when it’s his turn during batting practice, he just keeps hitting.
In his first conversation with Benge this week, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told the outfielder, a neophyte in big-league spring training, that mistakes are going to happen.
“Don’t let that bother you,” Mendoza told Benge.
Perhaps don’t worry about that, skip. People within the Mets and those outside the organization who know Benge well are confident he brings just the right mindset.
“He’s not an overthinker,” said Matt Holliday, the retired outfielder who was a seven-time All-Star and who worked with Benge over the offseason at Oklahoma, their shared home state.
Carson Benge, shown here during the 2025 MLB All-Star Futures Game, brings an even demeanor to the ups and downs of baseball. (Daniel Shirey /Getty Images)
Benge is among the most fascinating Mets to watch this spring. He is the first position player prospect drafted and developed under president of baseball operations David Stearns, who joined the organization in late 2023, to receive consideration for a roster spot. There is a lot to like about Benge. The Athletic’s Keith Law recently listed a few reasons for excitement while ranking the outfielder as the Mets’ farm system’s best position player: athleticism, potential for plus power, improved mechanics, great arm. Law ranks Benge at No. 18 on his list of Top 100 Prospects for 2026.
One of the most interesting things about Benge might be, as one Mets person put it, his “genius of not thinking.” Not about success. Not about failure. He keeps things simple.
The personality is a significant reason the Mets have faith in Benge to navigate the ups and downs.
“There are mountaintop highs in the big leagues in every market; the mountaintops are a little higher in New York and the valleys are also a little bit lower and he doesn’t fluctuate to the extent those mountains and valleys do,” Mets senior vice president of player development Andy Green said. “The ability to have a bad game and let it be a bad game or a bad at-bat and let it just be a bad at-bat … it becomes overwhelming for a lot of players. We value resilience a great deal. That’s the essence of what resilience is: what happened before doesn’t affect your future.”
The character trait comes in handy in the sport’s largest market. As a player and later as a manager, Green watched top prospects in other markets like San Diego go through struggles without a ton of scrutiny. In New York, Green said, prospects are confronted with “how good they are and how bad they are, and both those things can be toxic if you drink too deep off of them.”
Mets reliever Luke Weaver, who spent the last three seasons with the New York Yankees, carried the weight of expectations in St. Louis when the Cardinals drafted him in the first round in 2014. It was tough at times, he said. It would’ve been tougher, he added, dealing with the pressures of being a prospect in New York.
“The answer is yes,” Weaver said. “In New York, it’s elevated. It’s the platform. It’s the expectation to be in it every year. People let you know. As a young guy, it can already feel daunting to live up to expectations, but New York — externally, not with the coaching staff or your family or anything like that — has a way of elevating that.”
Benge described himself as a quiet guy who has mostly kept his inner thoughts in check, though he conceded that he is indeed a human being.
“There will be moments where I am yelling at myself or getting mad at myself or yelling for a good moment,” Benge said, “but for the most part I keep quiet and play the game.”
Benge’s skills say plenty. After Soto shifted to left field, Benge entered spring training in the mix for playing time at right field. Mendoza said he thought to himself recently, after observing players, that Benge had a “plus-plus arm.” A two-way player at Oklahoma State, Benge can hurl baseballs faster than 95 mph. Right field suits him well.
“I would say I’m more comfy in right just because I played my whole college career in right,” Benge said. “I love letting it eat.”
Throughout the offseason, Stearns consistently said Benge would have a chance to compete for a roster spot in spring training. There are far bigger stars and more accomplished players in the Mets’ clubhouse. Their success after last year’s collapse won’t depend on Benge. Yet he matters. In Stearns’ blueprint for success, player development is vital. The Mets are going to spend under owner Steve Cohen, but they also must develop their own. Other candidates for action in right field include Tyrone Taylor, Brett Baty and MJ Melendez.
If he doesn’t break camp with the Mets, Benge would start the year in Triple A, where he appeared in just 24 games last season after starting 2025 at High-A Brooklyn. In 519 plate appearances across three levels, Benge produced a .857 OPS with 15 home runs and 22 stolen bases.
Benge has ascended quickly because of his ability to make adjustments. Somehow, the guy known for not thinking much about results has a stealthy knack for figuring things out. In the outfield, Green said Benge has improved jumps and reads. At the plate, Benge refined his mechanics by cutting down on hand movement to cover more inside pitches.
“There’s a large part of him that can do things that are very complex in a simple fashion,” Green said.
A few times over the winter, Benge worked out with Holliday and Holliday’s sons Jackson (Baltimore Orioles) and Ethan (Colorado Rockies). Benge’s relationship with Holliday dates back a handful of years. Benge formerly played at Oklahoma State; Holliday’s brother Josh is the program’s longtime manager. From Holliday’s perspective, Benge showed up looking stronger, demonstrating a better understanding of what he wanted to do at the plate.
Per Holliday’s scouting report, Benge’s primary strength is knowing himself.
“He’s got a very good hitters’ mentality; he doesn’t let things bother him too much,” Holliday said. “He has a short memory, which is always good as a hitter, and he is very confident in what he’s doing.”
Holliday, who spent one of his 15 MLB seasons playing for the Yankees, offered something else about Benge worth thinking about.
“He’s gonna be a really good player,” Holliday said. “There are people who can handle playing in a big market and can handle the failure and success that come with playing in New York City. He has the right mentality and the right makeup.”