What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets raked their way to victory in Chicago, trouncing the White Sox 10-5 (box)
CF Luis Robert, Jr. hit two home runs in his former home ballpark, and Luis Torrens hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the top of the ninth; 3B Bo Bichette and RF Carson Benge each contributed solo shots
All the right pinch-hit buttons were pushed, as both Torrens and Eric Wagaman provided runs off the bench;
RHP Christian Scott has had better days on the hill, as he surrendered four runs on five hits (including two homers) over 4.2 innings; he struck out six, but walked four
RHP Jonathan Pintaro allowed a run behind Scott, but fellow righties Austin Warren, Dedniel Núñez, and Kodai Senga held things down over 3.2 scoreless frames of relief
Injury Updates 🏥
LF Juan Soto (left calf strain) ran wind sprints on August 14, but hasn’t progressed any further; he maintains that he was be back on the field this season
1B/DH Mark Vientos (fractured right hand) will start his rehab assignment in Binghamton
Stat of the Day 📈
Carson Benge is tied with Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle for seventh-most RBI among rookies (53), and he ranks third in rookie hits (129) behind McGonigle and Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart
Play(s) of the Game 🔥
In response to a wave of boo’s from his former home crowd, Luis Robert Jr. uncorked two monstrous home runs. Both balls left his bat at 109 mph and traveled over 400 feet.
Robert’s second homer of the day came off old friend Huascar Brazobán.
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
ICYMI: In the latest midweek edition of The Just Mets Podcast, Andrew Claudio recaps yet another Mets series victory as they take 2/3 from the Padres and continue their red-hot play since the trade deadline.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Jonah Tong (No. 5 prospect, Triple-A): 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 E
RHP R.J. Gordon (No. 30 prospect, Double-A): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K
3B Jacob Reimer (No. 7 prospect, Double-A): 3-for-4, 2 RBI, SB
2B Sammy Stafura (No. 8 prospect, High-A): 1-for-2, R, RBI, 3 BB
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (59-71) at White Sox (67-62)
Where: Rate Field - Chicago, IL
Starters: RHP Nolan McLean (9-8, 3.34 ERA) vs. LHP Sean Newcomb (1-3, 2.44 ERA)
When: 2:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Carson Benge’s NL ROY case
Carson Benge is an excellent baseball player. He’s probably the best all-around rookie in baseball.
From hitting .136 in his first 21 games to assembling a nearly-3.0 bWAR season, Benge has done everything that’s been asked of him. Sometimes literally: just the other day, Andy Green told him to ‘go do something’ — Benge homered.
He hits. He throws runners out at home. He steals bases. On all sides of the ball, Benge has turned in nothing short of an elite rookie campaign. It’s precisely that all-around nature of his game that makes his dark horse discourse so compelling.
While St. Louis’ young stud in Wetherholt seemed to have the award all but locked up through the first half, Benge and Stewart have come roaring to the forefront of the conversation following the All-Star break. Stewart, admittedly, has been at the top of the shortlist since before the break, as evidenced by his All-Star nod, but near-dead-even splits from half to half and eight homers in his last 34 games have helped cement his status as award front-runner.
But while Wetherholt and Stewart have been near-prodigious on one side of the ball, Benge’s resume this season paints the picture of a more complete, well-rounded player who can contribute to winning in multiple ways.
Let’s dig in:
One look at the basic numbers is all you need to see that Stewart has the superior bat of this bunch. His power production has been among the best in the rookie class, and he’s proven to be decently disciplined for a slugger. His 97 RBI outrank Benge’s individual runs scored totals
Benge, however, has quietly put together a very good offensive season himself.
After hitting sub-.140 through his first few weeks as a big leaguer, Benge has come all the way back around to a much more characteristic .276/.336/.425 slash with 16 homers, 53 RBI and a 112 OPS+. His post-All-Star production has been nothing short of revelatory, thanks largely to some mechanics adjustments, and all of a sudden he’s become the second-best hitter in the daily lineup.
That season-opening slump remains a huge factor in where his numbers currently stand. Yes, those bad weeks happened — nothing to be done about that. But it’s worth acknowledging that if Benge had gotten off to even a slightly better start, or perhaps squared up that stance a bit sooner, there might be a bit more discernible a gap between his and Wetherholt’s performance at the plate, especially comparing their respective second halves side-by-side: Benge is hitting .313 since the break, Wetherholt a mere .191.
Perhaps most compelling of all: Benge’s 140 OPS+ in the second half ranks 24th-best in all of baseball; Stewart’s 110 ranks 72nd, Wetherholt’s 87 ranks 132nd.
If there was ever a time to rely on recency bias…
Comparing outfield to infield defense is a bit of an apples/oranges situation, but even still, anyone would be hard-pressed to find an argument that Carson Benge was a more valuable fielder than JJ Wetherholt. Wetherholt’s posting a +21 Fielding Run Value with more than a month left in his rookie season, second in MLB only to Pete Crow-Armstrong. That’s ridiculous.
Benge still grades out very well (+5), and a strong case can be made that he’s the most productive rookie outfielder in MLB. According to Baseball Savant’s recently-released Arm Value metric, Benge is better at throwing runners out at home than any other rookie. Taking runs away is just as valuable as driving them in, so sitting second on the team in both homers and RBIs looks that much sweeter.
Mets fans are well familiar, by now, with the plays at the plate, the diving catches, the unflappability in the face of potential injury — this kid is going to be a cornerstone of this franchise’s outfield mix for years to come.
But still…21 runs saved is much, much more than 5. There isn’t a ton of ground Benge, or anyone, can make up in this department.
But even if Benge can’t make up ground in the statistical standings with his glove, the wheels he puts on display in the field continue to also make a compelling case for him as an all-purpose run-scorer. Stewart’s 12 swipes are respectable, not too far behind Wetherholt’s 13.
Benge, however, has stolen 18 bases this season, ranks around the 92nd percentile in sprint speed, and has generated roughly +3 runs of baserunning value by Statcast’s measurements.
That isn’t going to erase Wetherholt’s defensive advantage or close the gap between Benge and Stewart offensively, but it does add another source of value to Benge’s overall profile. He can turn a single into second, take an extra base and create scoring opportunities that aren’t captured by his batting line.
It’s also consistent with what has been seen from Benge throughout the season. His athleticism has translated into actual production rather than simply making him an aesthetically pleasing player to watch.
Ultimately, the winner of this NL ROY race will likely be either the leader in WAR or homers/RBI. It would be more than a little surprising to see the award given to someone who doesn’t lead his class in any traditional stat categories.
Stewart’s bat is far and away the most menacing of the three, and Wetherholt’s defense bests the rest of the league’s by a margin so ridiculous it’s worth nearly half his WAR total (4.6 bWAR, 1.9 dWAR). But even though Benge falls between them statistically, his value is a bit more evenly spread out across his game. He contributes to winning on every side of the ball — this current stretch of winning likely doesn’t happen without him.
After opening the year with numbers that made him look overmatched at the big league level, Benge has completely shifted the narrative, posting above-average numbers across the board without any truly significant holes in his approach.
Will he be rewarded? Check back in November.
Around the League 🚩
The Braves and Brewers face off in the Little League Classic tonight at 7 pm EST (MLB.com)
Randy Arozarena led the Mariners to their second-straight walk-off win, robbing a homer and hitting two of his own (including the game winner) to beat the Cubs, 5-4
Arozarena is the third player in MLB history to hit both a first-pitch leadoff homer and a walk-off homer in the same game; the second was Pete Crow-Armstrong, who did it less than a week ago — before that, it hadn’t happened since 1957 (MLB)
Tarik Skubal racked up 11 strikeouts over seven innings as the Dodgers beat the Pirates, 4-3
Cincinnati’s JJ Bleday hit for the eighth cycle in Reds history in their 11-5 win over Arizona; the last Cincinnati cycle was completed by Elly De La Cruz in 2023
Phillies prospect Andrew Painter put on a show, striking out eight Cardinals over seven innings of one-run ball; Kyle Schwarber also hit his MLB-leading 38th homer
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton suffered a ‘moderate’ calf strain and could likely miss the rest of the season