On Carson Benge's hitting the past 11 games
My opinion before the season started is that every single Mets fan out there expected Carson Benge to make an All-Star team by 2030. Where there was not nearly as much uniformity of opinion was where it was best for Benge to start 2026. As stated here many times, it was my take that Benge needed to have success at Triple-A, a level he did not conquer in 2025. The Mets chose to have him in their Opening Day lineup, instead.
It’s not hyperbole to state that thru the club’s first 24 games, Benge was one of the 10-worst hitters in the majors. Thru that point, he was batting .136 with a .416 OPS. It’s been a different story since then. In his last 11 games, Benge is slashing .303/.361/.545 in 36 PA. The broadcasters have talked about Benge closing his stance some, allowing him to cover more of the plate. Maybe that explains his sudden success.
What’s not up for debate is that Benge has cut down on his strikeouts here in this good stretch. Prior to the last 11 games, he had 18 Ks in 73 PA for a 24.7 K%. But in Benge’s last 36 PA, he’s fanned just six times for a 16.7 K%.
When you combine making more contact with an elevated BABIP, success is sure to follow. Currently the MLB rate is a .292 BABIP. In his last 11 games, Benge has a .320 mark. That’s not a crazy BABIP yet everyone should be aware that it’s playing a role in his success. Some may argue that it’s making up for his depressed BABIP at the beginning of the season. Perhaps it is. The bottom line is that we shouldn’t expect those results the rest of 2026.
That leaves his strikeout rate. What can we expect from Benge in that department moving forward? Last year in Triple-A, when he struggled so much, he had an 18.4 K%, which was up from the 15.9% rate he had in Double-A. Generally speaking, one’s strikeout rate doesn’t improve when you advance to a higher level. For the season, Benge has a 22.0 K% in the majors, which might be a touch higher than we might have expected coming into the year but generally in the ballpark.
In addition to cutting down his whiffs, Benge has delivered power in this brief span. In 36 PA, he has two doubles and two homers. Prior to this stretch, he had just two extra-base hits in 73 PA, a double and a homer. And the home run came on Opening Day.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone if Benge continues his strong hitting for a little while longer. The questions are how long he’ll keep it up and what will he settle into once the hot streak is over. We saw last year that Mark Vientos had a stretch of 91 PA – 2.5X longer than Benge’s current streak – where he had a 1.144 OPS with a .280 BABIP.
Before that stretch, Vientos had a .633 OPS and afterwards, it was a .402 mark. And Vientos already had success at Triple-A and the majors before last year’s hot streak.
The results of one single person have no bearing on what will happen with Benge. It’s simply one data point that the results of 11 games does not mean that he has “figured out” MLB pitching. None of us have any idea if Benge will use this hot streak as a jumping off point to a productive season, if it’s a brief respite from lousy results or if it’s somewhere in between.
Yet if I’m being honest, the first thing that jumped to mind when hearing people point to Benge’s recent hot hitting was the crazed takes back in 2024 about the “tremendous” June of Luisangel Acuna. That month, Acuna had a .761 OPS, which was miles better than what he did previously. The only problem was that when you looked at what everyone else on the team was doing, it wasn’t the slightest bit special. It ranked 11th among the 15 hitters for Syracuse in June.
To be fair, Benge’s production here lately stands out among his teammates over the same span. My comparison is to the reaction, not the results. There’s nothing wrong with wanting players to be good. We can enjoy Benge’s recent production without crossing the line to unhinged takes. For what it’s worth, I drafted Benge in my keeper fantasy league team this year. The sooner he’s better helps both my fantasy team and my favorite team in real life.
Benge turning the corner is the result for which I’m rooting. It’s just not a wager anyone should be making right now.
You have always stressed that hitters all seem to have a stretch when they are hitting well, and others where they have declined from those heights, and some where they appear lost at the plate. Benge is finally in one of those hot streaks and with him, the hope is that he has learned some things from his brief stint in Queens, and can continue to improve. He has already shown his worth in the field, regardless of which outfield spot they put him in. Vientos is another one on a hot streak where he seems to be seeing and hitting the ball quite well, even when some of those hard hit balls turn into outs.
It seems to me that the job of the hitting coaches is to get players to recognize what they did when they were going good and to keep them on that track - and to quickly point out when they have veered from that successful formula and fallen back into bad patterns. Much like golf, it is the repetition of the swing that keeps you consistent.
I think Benge’s fielding is a given and he had proven very strong wherever they play him. The issue has been will he be able to hit thereby assuring him a place in the lineup. Hope this current streak continues.