{"id":611399,"date":"2026-03-07T08:49:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T08:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/611399\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T08:49:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T08:49:23","slug":"a-j-ewing-carson-benge-continue-to-dazzle-mets-with-fast-spring-starts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/611399\/","title":{"rendered":"A.J. Ewing, Carson Benge continue to dazzle Mets with fast spring starts"},"content":{"rendered":"

JUPITER, Fla. \u2014 A.J. Ewing\u2019s goal entering the season<\/a> is the same as it was last year: \u201cDominate the level where I\u2019m at.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mets outfield prospect got from Low-A St. Lucie to Double-A Binghamton last year<\/a> and has been among the group of young players that has stood out to Carlos Mendoza so far this spring.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Access the Mets beat like never before <\/p>\n

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.<\/p>\n

Try it free <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a baseball player,\u2019\u2019 the manager said prior to Ewing starting in left field and hitting seventh in a 2-0 loss to the Marlins on Friday at Roger Dean Stadium. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different ways he can help a team win a baseball game: Whether it\u2019s the way he plays defense, the way he runs the bases [or his] good at-bats. He puts the ball in play and drives the ball. He\u2019s another kid, I don\u2019t think people talk much about him. He\u2019s a good one there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Mendoza\u2019s scouting eye is pretty accurate in speaking to other team\u2019s perspective of the 21-year-old, but plenty of people have taken notice of Ewing as he enters his third full season in the pros.<\/p>\n

Ewing certainly grew offensively in 2025, as he said he \u201clearned who I was as a hitter.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that, according to Ewing, is this: \u201cI don\u2019t think putting the ball in the air should be a big part of my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A.J.<\/p>\n

A.J. Ewing catches a fly ball from St. Louis Cardinals\u2019 Chase Davis in the fifth inning during Spring Training at Clover Field, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019s getting on base and moving when he gets there. He swiped 70 bases over three levels last year.<\/p>\n

On Friday, he singled and stole second in the top of the second inning and then made a terrific diving catch in left in the bottom of the inning.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cComing in, that jump was impressive,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said. \u201cOff the bat, you think it\u2019s a base hit.<\/p>\n

Of his speed on the bases, Ewing said, \u201cThat\u2019s a big focus of mine. It sets the table for the guys behind me to drive me in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The guys behind him could at some point include Carson Benge, who was also in the lineup versus Miami on Friday as he looks to win the open right field job.<\/p>\n

Asked how that could happen, Mendoza said, \u201cJust continue doing what he\u2019s doing. There are a lot of things out of his control, [but] he\u2019s having a really good camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carson<\/p>\n

Carson Benge takes batting practice. Corey Sipkin for NY Post<\/p>\n

According to the manager, that includes controlling the strike zone.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the quality of at-bats, especially against left-handed pitching,\u201d Mendoza said of the left-handed swinging Benge. \u201cWe saw him the other day go the other way with two strikes [for a homer] against a lefty.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Mendoza also noted other aspects of Benge\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis defense and the way he\u2019s running the bases,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said. \u201cThere\u2019s a long way to go [until Opening Day], but he\u2019s having a good camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Suero, another prospect who is primarily a catcher, but also played left field this spring, drew praise from Mendoza, as well.<\/p>\n

Mendoza knows this is the best, and perhaps only, time this season that he\u2019ll get a chance to see some of these prospects in person and he doesn\u2019t want to waste the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

He said he watches those players \u201cpretty closely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of my routine: Read reports, talk to coordinators, player development [and] staff because we\u2019re gonna need guys like that,\u2019\u2019 Mendoza said of the top prospects. \u201cThe exciting part is we\u2019ve got a lot of them. We\u2019ve got a few [in major league camp] and if you go on the backfield [to minor league camp], there\u2019s talent there, too. It\u2019s not only the upper [minors], but the lower level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the fast starts of players like Benge and Ewing, among others, Mendoza said it\u2019s too early to know where they will end up, and who may end up in Queens.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot can happen between now and when we break camp,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cThe main thing is to keep guys healthy. The goal is to have a lot of tough decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JUPITER, Fla. \u2014 A.J. Ewing\u2019s goal entering the season is the same as it was last year: \u201cDominate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,1443,5805,101,778,4,1690,61,2548,4203,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-611399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-carlos-mendoza","10":"tag-carson-benge","11":"tag-mets","12":"tag-miami","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-mets","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkmets","18":"tag-st-louis-cardinals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116187036346475474","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}