Carson Benge via his Instagram
No. 2: Carson Benge, OF
B/T: L/R Age: 23 (1/20/2003)
Ht: 6’1″ Wt: 184 lb
ETA: 2026
Acquired: 2024 1st Round Draft Selection
The Mets made Carson Benge, a two-way standout from Oklahoma State, the 19th overall selection in the 2024 Amateur Draft. Despite losing his first year to Tommy John surgery, Benge hit .339 with a 1.064 OPS in 120 games at Oklahoma State while posting a 4.88 ERA across 72 innings. In his senior year, Benge slashed .335/.444/.665 with 18 home runs, struck out 44 hitters over 37 innings, and posted a 3.16 ERA to become a finalist for the John Olerud Two-Way player of the year award.
During the draft process, many scouts saw Benge as a prospect who could play both sides of the ball. However, upon being drafted, he announced that he would remain an outfielder, which would allow him to develop as a position player only. In 2024, Benge signed with the Mets for $4 million, marking the start of his professional career.
In 2024, Benge made his professional debut with the St. Lucie Mets. Despite only playing 15 games, Benge began to show why the Mets were so high on him as a hitter. Benge hit .273 with an OPS of .857, hit two home runs, stole three bases, and walked 11 times compared to 14 strikeouts. Defensively, Benge showed that he can play the outfield just as well as he can hit. His athletic ability, paired with his arm strength, made for a strong display of the defensive tools Benge has at his disposal as a prospect moving forward.
2025 was the start of a meteoric rise for Benge and his prospect status. Seeing time at Brooklyn, Binghamton, and Syracuse, Benge slashed .281/.385/.472 with 15 home runs, 22 stolen bases, and a 150 wRC+. In 2025, Benge proved quickly that he was too good for the lower levels of the minor leagues, hitting .302 and .317 at Brooklyn and Binghamton, respectively, before ending the year at Syracuse with some struggles. In 24 games at Triple-A, Benge slashed .178/.272/.311 with a measly 53 wRC+. However, the small road bump at Triple-A did not stop several major publications from putting Benge as one of the best outfield prospects in baseball. MLB Pipeline ranked Benge as the number 16 prospect in baseball, with only three true outfielders ahead of him.
Aiding Benge’s historic rise on the prospect charts is his true five-tool potential. While it may seem that he doesn’t have any truly elite tools, Benge has the chance to become a true five-tool MLB player. He can hit over .300, he can hit 20+ home runs, he can steal 35+ bases, and he has the arm and defensive potential to be an elite defender. Those types of players are incredibly rare in today’s game.
Under the hood, Benge looks just as good as his production, if not better. In 2025, Benge’s hard hit rate and bat speed were both better than big league average. He showed fantastic plate discipline skills, with an 80.9% contact rate and a 13.1% walk rate, which would’ve ranked tied for 14th of all qualified MLB hitters in 2025. In terms of his batted ball profile, Benge displays a unique and well-rounded profile. He uses all areas of the field while still putting enough balls in the air to do damage. Benge was able to cut down the ground ball rate moving from Single-A to Double-A, with his speed, hitting too many ground balls is never going to be the end of the world.
Something valuable about his offensive approach is the ability to drive balls to all fields without sacrificing swing and miss. Oftentimes, we see players with speed sacrifice power in an effort to prevent strikeouts. This is not the case with Benge. His rare combination of power, bat skills, and speed allows him to produce plenty of extra base hits without becoming an “all-or-nothing” hitter. I think these types of traits look very similar to the type of hitter that Bo Bichette is currently: A player with fantastic bat skills, the ability to drive the ball to all areas of the field, while not striking out at high rates.
This spring, Benge is showcasing why David Stearns had been so adamantly open about his chances to make the opening day roster. Benge has been tremendous at the plate and was in the conversation to make the Mets roster as the starting right fielder on the day from the jump. He has looked the part of someone ready to become a contributor at the MLB level, despite only spending one full season in the minor leagues.
In terms of prospect rankings, Benge slots in at number two, behind only Nolan McLean. As the number one hitting prospect in the Mets organization, it is easy to see why many are so excited to see Benge play at the MLB level. There is an extremely high ceiling to go with a relatively high floor for a player like Benge, who projects to be an everyday contributor for the Mets moving forward.