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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 26: Carson Benge #3 of the New York Mets reacts in the dugout during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 26, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The New York Mets<\/a> didn\u2019t give their fans a ton of reasons to smile in what was quite a rough 2026 MLB season.<\/p>\n Carson Benge, though? He shone bright and provided some joy for the present as well as plenty of hope for the future.<\/p>\n Benge put together the kind of rookie season that suggests the Mets have a future star on their hands.<\/p>\n It was a big call for the Mets to hand Benge an Opening Day starting gig, but he took it and ran with it and never really slowed down.<\/p>\n Benge played in 156 games and finished with 22 doubles, three triples, 20 home runs, 86 runs scored, 65 RBI, 22 steals (5 CS), 50 walks, a .282 average and a .776 OPS.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a combination of stats that has rarely been done in the history of MLB.<\/p>\n Carson Benge Joins Mike Trout<\/p>\n In fact, only one rookie before Benge had ever put together a season with at least 165 hits, 20 homers, 20 steals and 50 walks.<\/p>\n That was Mike Trout.<\/p>\n Benge has joined him:<\/p>\n Rookies in MLB history with at least 165 hits, 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases and 50 walks in a season:<\/p>\n Carson Benge \u2014 Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) September 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that Trout had actually debuted the year before his big season but struggled immensely and not exhausted his rookie eligibility. So in some ways what Benge did is even more impressive, since he was in the majors the whole year.<\/p>\n Trout, of course, became the best player in baseball for about a decade.<\/p>\n Benge doesn\u2019t have the same physique as Trout, who is built more like an NFL<\/a> linebacker. But it\u2019s clear Benge has a special skillset (including an incredible throwing arm from the outfield).<\/p>\n And anytime you can join an early-career Trout in a statistical feat, that\u2019s a really good sign.<\/p>\n More Good Company<\/p>\n Benge also joins a pretty rare list of National League rookies who put up an OPS+ of at least 115 (15% better than league average) and also stole 20 bases:<\/p>\n Most recent NL rookies with an OPS+ of at least 115 and 20 stolen bases:<\/p>\n Carson Benge \u2014 Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) September 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n This season, there were multiple impressive rookies in the NL, including the likes of Sal Stewart and T.J. Rumfield, but Benge certainly has a strong Rookie of the Year case.<\/p>\n He led NL rookies in hits and was second in Wins Above Replacement and in home runs.<\/p>\n How Carson Benge ranked in the 2026 season among National League rookies:<\/p>\n 1st \u2013 168 hits \u2014 Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) September 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Nothing is a given in this sport. There have been guys with great rookie seasons who never really matched the hype in years to come.<\/p>\n But if you were guessing, you\u2019d guess Benge won\u2019t be a one-hit wonder. He\u2019s too good for that.<\/p>\n It sure seems like at least in consideration of Benge, the future is very bright for the Mets.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tBilly Heyen<\/a> Billy Heyen is a Heavy contributor with focus on the NFL and MLB. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who spent his senior year following Jim Boeheim’s basketball team around the country. His reporting work has also included extensive work for The Sporting News, the Sandusky Register and Rochester’s Democrat & Chronicle. Adventures in sports writing have also led to in-person coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, Cleveland Guardians, U.S. men’s national soccer team and a variety of minor league baseball stories. More about Billy Heyen<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 26: Carson Benge #3 of the New York Mets reacts in the dugout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203],"class_list":["post-817200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-mets","tag-baseball","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkmets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117354446430736855","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817200","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=817200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Mike Trout<\/p>\n
Jackson Chourio
Corbin Carroll
Nolan Jones
Michael Harris II
Jake McCarthy
Trea Turner
Andrew McCutchen
Hanley Ramirez
Scott Podsednik<\/p>\n
2nd \u2013 4.3 fWAR
2nd \u2013 20 HR
3rd \u2013 22 SB
3rd \u2013 86 R
3rd \u2013 62 RBI
T\/4th \u2013 22 2B
5th \u2013 118 wRC+<\/p>\n