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Inside The Mets

Did the New York Mets Call Up Carson Benge Too Soon?

Carson Benge is struggling immensely so far, and it's becoming obvious that the Mets rushed him to the majors.
Joe Najarian|
Apr 10, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets left fielder Carson Benge (3) runs out a single against the Athletics during the eighth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Apr 10, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets left fielder Carson Benge (3) runs out a single against the Athletics during the eighth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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New York Mets

The 2026 season has been a nightmare for the New York Mets, and that is an understatement.

New York is on their longest losing streak in over 20 years. They are tied for having the worst record in baseball and already trail the first-place Atlanta Braves by eight games in the NL East. The bats are flaccid, while the pitching's valiant efforts have been fruitless.

As a result, manager Carlos Mendoza's job security is rapidly decreasing by the day in spite of the front office's insistence that he is safe. Mets fans are losing confidence in David Stearns' vision as more flaws in the roster are exposed, even with a collection of amazing talent.

While many of the Mets' problems are the result of their stars failing to perform, other woes have come from risky moves that put even more pressure on the players. This includes letting Pete Alonso walk in favor of Jorge Polanco, who was stricken by the injury bug while trying to learn a new position. Bo Bichette was also given the challenge of trying to learn third base, and he has to balance that with a terrible slump at the plate.

But another gamble Stearns took was to give top prospect Carson Benge a starting job in the outfield. As great as Benge looked in the minors last year and in spring training this year, it's becoming clear that the 23-year-old is not a finished product.

MLB Executive Believes Mets Rushed Carson Benge to Majors

During the winter, Stearns had incredible confidence in Benge to make the team out of spring training and declared that he would have a lane to do so. Not only would he end up making the Opening Day roster, but the Mets even moved him into the leadoff spot during their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs.

Entering the series opener on April 16, the Mets had lost eight straight and Benge was batting a meager .151. On that same day, MLB's Mark Feinsand wrote an article about New York's struggles, and his reports included an anonymous American League executive questioning the Mets' decision to perhaps rush their prized outfield prospect to the major leagues.

“It might have been the right decision at the time, but it's because they put themselves in that position for it to be the right decision,” the executive said. “You have to think above and beyond what is on the surface; you have to go deeper than that. You're talking about a guy who had one full year of professional baseball under his belt; yes, he had played very well in that first full year, but the gap between Triple-A and the big leagues has never been greater.”

“They should have told [Benge], ‘You can hit 1.000 this spring, hit a home run in every at-bat and play unbelievable defense; you are not making the team out of Spring Training,’” he continued. “Tell him, ‘Hey, you're on the path. You will be here soon enough. You will force our hand, but it's not going to be from Day 1.’”

The Ugly Numbers from Benge

Of course, the Mets ended up being swept by the Cubs this weekend. As for Benge, who was trusted with providing a spark from the leadoff spot, he was entirely ineffective by reaching base just twice in 11 plate appearances.

The rough series further sank the 23-year-old's already dismal numbers. Through 19 games and 70 plate appearances, Benge is hitting only .143/.229/.206 with one home run, three RBI, a 31 wRC+ (100 is league average) and -0.2 fWAR. He's played good defense in the outfield and succeeded in all five of his stolen base attempts, but the bat is simply a black hole. Being touted as a difficult batter to strike out, he's whiffed 18 times already despite showing decent awareness of the strike zone (27% whiff rate).

Granting further credence to Benge being underdeveloped is his lack of time in Triple-A. This isn't new across baseball - the cross-town Yankees, for instance, did the same thing with shortstop Anthony Volpe in 2023 after just 99 plate appearances in Triple-A - but after logging an .897 OPS in High-A and a .978 OPS in Double-A, Benge only slashed .178/.272/.311 for a .583 OPS and 53 wRC+ in 103 plate appearances with the Syracuse Mets. In contrast, the often-maligned Volpe hit .236/.313/.404 for a .718 OPS and 92 wRC+ back in 2022 with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

The environment in the International League (where Syracuse and SWB play) is much closer to the majors than the Eastern League in Double-A. Given how badly Benge struggled in Triple-A after his dominance with Binghamton, that should have been a clear sign of needing a bit more time before a big league call-up. But Stearns decided to take a chance, believing that Benge was ready to be the spark plug for the 2026 Mets, and it has unfortunately backfired so far.

This isn't the only time Stearns has done this either, as he also rushed Jonah Tong to the majors last year after just two starts in Triple-A. Despite flashes of brilliance, the overall numbers were ugly. The decision to call up Tong was due to a rash of pitching injuries and underperformance, and based on the spring training injury to Mike Tauchman alongside the Brandon Nimmo trade during the offseason, Benge was also rushed as soon as a lane for him was available in the outfield.

At this point, the Mets may roll with Benge on the roster since further injuries to the outfield (Jared Young) have kept the lane open for him. But if his development into a star is highly valued, the right thing to do is to send him down to Triple-A. Benge is just not ready - at least, not yet.

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Joe Najarian
JOE NAJARIAN

Joe Najarian is the Deputy Editor and a writer for the New York Mets On SI site. He got his bachelor’s degree in journalism with a specialization in sports from Rutgers University, graduating in 2022. Joe has previously written for Jersey Sporting News and for the New York Giants On SI site. You can follow him on Twitter/X: @JoeNajarian

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