{"id":639507,"date":"2026-03-23T20:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T20:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/639507\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T20:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T20:24:14","slug":"mets-prospect-carson-benge-makes-opening-day-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/639507\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets prospect Carson Benge makes Opening Day roster"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 It\u2019s the time of the year when baseball is dominated by feel-good stories. The Mets<\/a> are feeling especially good about their player development department as they break camp to begin the 2026 season, with 2024 first-round draft pick Carson Benge<\/a> set to play right field Thursday at Citi Field when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Opening Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a moment he\u2019ll never forget,\u201d manager Carlos Mendoza said Monday at Clover Park. \u201cIt\u2019s a big day for the organization. A kid that gets drafted in 2024 and two years later, here we are giving him the news that he\u2019s going to be playing in the big leagues for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benge was the first draft pick made by the Mets\u2019 current front office. Scouting director Kris Gross and president of baseball operations David Stearns took Benge with the 19th pick out of Oklahoma State. With Andy Green overseeing player development, the Mets had the two-way player shift his focus solely to the outfield. Benge was more than agreeable, knowing it could help him reach the big leagues faster than if he focused on pitching.<\/p>\n

All of the work put into developing Benge and all his own work have paid off, with Benge saying he felt \u201cjoy over everything\u201d when Mendoza informed him he would be the Mets\u2019 Opening Day right fielder.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust knowing that I worked hard for it, countless hours I spent, and all my family members and friends that have sacrificed some time for me, knowing that it\u2019s all going to come true,\u201d Benge said. \u201cIt\u2019s been my dream since I was little. It\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming into the offseason last fall, the Mets were already imagining what the team would look like with Benge\u2019s left-handed bat in the lineup and his powerful right arm in the outfield. The club was open about giving him a chance to compete for a roster spot out of spring training<\/a>, and they believe he put in the work necessary to deserve the promotion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe earned it,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cHe had a hell of a camp, and we are all excited to watch this kid play.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all set up perfectly for Benge. Juan Soto decided to move from right field to left, allowing Benge to play the outfield position he played in college. Although the Mets have had him play a fair amount of center field in the minor leagues, he\u2019s most comfortable in right field. He\u2019s seen the most improvements in the outfield over the last year, and with his former minor league manager Gilbert Gomez now working with the Major League team, it\u2019s a perfect way to ease the transition to a higher level of play.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy defense has taken strides working out there with Gilbert Gomez. He was my manager last year in Double-A,\u201d Benge said. \u201cAcross the board, I feel like I\u2019ve gotten better in every aspect of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mets see a mentally tough player ready to be challenged in the big leagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot goes into it, physically, mentally, learning how to play the game from every area, offensively, defensively, pace, running,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cI think handling adversity is huge, and that\u2019s something that we are all proud of here as an organization, with Andy Green leading the way in player development. Nothing\u2019s going to be given to you regardless of who you are. You\u2019ve got to earn. We saw it, not only with Carson, or with [right-hander Nolan McLean] last year, or with Jonah [Tong], but with some of the players that were here in big league camp this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way they went about their business, and that just the toughness that they are creating there, they\u2019ve all got the tools. They\u2019ve all got a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team has yet to decide on the last bench spot, but it\u2019s down to either utility infielder Vidal Brujan or first baseman\/outfielder Jared Young. They\u2019re also considering left-handers Bryan Hudson and Richard Lovelady in the bullpen. All four will travel north with the Mets. Final roster decisions are expected Wednesday when the Mets work out at Citi Field.<\/p>\n

Benge\u2019s first phone call was to his parents after the Mets wrapped up an intrasquad scrimmage. The waiting game hasn\u2019t been particularly difficult for him this week, but he\u2019s happy to know where he\u2019s starting the season. It will be his second-ever trip to New York City.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the bigs, kid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always thought about it since I was a little kid,\u201d he said. \u201cThinking about that moment, on the big stage for the first time, it\u2019s going to be surreal. I\u2019m going to try my best to take it in, but stay calm and play my game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 It\u2019s the time of the year when baseball is dominated by feel-good stories. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,5805,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,1406],"class_list":{"0":"post-639507","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-carson-benge","10":"tag-mets","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-mets","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkmets","16":"tag-opening-day"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116280365436331785","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639507","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=639507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}