QUEENS, NY — It feels like New York Mets outfielder Carson Benge is strengthening his case for National League Rookie of the Year with each passing day, though the 23-year-old will bristle at the thought of it.
“I don’t really care for it,” he told amNewYork.
This is who Benge is, though: Never too high, never too low. Simply dialled in to the next at-bat, the next chance.
“I think it’s easy to talk about his talent. He can pretty much do everything on the field, but I think it’s probably his demeanor [that’s most impressive],” third baseman Bo Bichette, who has taken Benge under his wing, told amNewYork. “He’s very competitive. You can tell, but he’s very even-keeled throughout the whole season. Even when he started off slow, it’s been very similar person every day, which I think just shows a lot of confidence he has in himself, which I think is most impressive.”
That mental makeup has helped Benge shed a nightmare start to life in the majors to become one of the game’s elite rookies. Over his last 97 games, he is batting .306 with an .837 OPS, including a current stretch in which he has gone 12-for-his-last-25.
Despite leading all rookies with 11 three-hit games, ranking second in the NL behind Reds DH Sal Stewart with 16 home runs, much of the Rookie of the Year talk has revolved around Stewart, who does not play defense, and JJ Wetherholt of the St. Louis Cardinals — the shortstop who is batting .197 since July 7.
Benge also ranks fourth in all of baseball with nine outfield assists.
“I think it’s crazy, actually,” Bichette said of Benge’s place in the Rookie of the Year talks. “There’s definitely a couple other guys who are having great years, [Mets pitcher Nolan McLean] included. But I think that he for sure should be getting a lot more consideration. Not only consideration, but consideration as one of the favorites.”
McLean has become an afterthought at times due to an inconsistent season. Yet, Benge’s Oklahoma State teammate leads all rookies across the majors with 168 strikeouts to go with a 3.21 ERA that ranks seventh out of 22 first-year arms with at least 10 starts this season.
“Nolan has to be squarely in that conversation as well,” interim manager Andy Green said. “… I don’t know what’s in the water in Stillwater [Oklahoma], but they’re two unique individuals that love to compete and do it really well… Well-rounded players that impact every part of the game are what every manager wants, and you want that every single time. Carson has been that. When you look at where he’s come from at the start of the year to where he is now, it’s been fun to watch him take steps forward.”
For more on Carson Benge and the Mets, visit AMNY.com
