The kids might actually be alright!

A.J. Ewing, Carson Benge, and the rest of the offense shined as they opened their latest home stand

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets routed the Tigers in Queens, 10-2 (box)

• CF A.J. Ewing lived up to the hype, going 1-for-2 with a triple, three walks, two runs scored, and another two driven in. Ewing is the first Met ever to triple in their MLB debut, and the first to get on base four times in their debut since Kaz Matsui in 2004

• RF Carson Benge, 1B Mark Vientos, and 3B Brett Baty all turned in two-hit nights, and all three crossed home plate

• SS Bo Bichette and LF Juan Soto contributed to the run scoring with RBIs of their own; Soto also had a two-hit game

• RHP Freddy Peralta surrendered two runs early, but settled down and tossed seven strikeouts over six innings; Peralta also saved a run on a nice heads-up defensive play in the top of the fifth

• LHP Brooks Raley and RHP Austin Warren combined for three scoreless innings of relief

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Roster Moves 📰

• CF/2B A.J. Ewing selected to the Major League roster

• INF Nick Roselli signed to a minor league contract

• UTIL Andy Ibañez designated for assignment

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Injury Updates 🏥

• C Francisco Álvarez left Tuesday night’s game with a knee injury - he will be re-evaluated today and will undergo imaging

• SS Francisco Lindor (left calf strain) is out of his walking boot and is getting a follow-up MRI this week to help determine next steps

• LHP A.J. Minter (left lat surgery, hip discomfort) threw a second bullpen session yesterday and should return to game action this weekend; he’s likely still a few weeks away from a big league return

• CF Luis Robert Jr. (lumbar spine disc herniation) continues to feel discomfort and, per Carlos Mendoza, is not progressing as the team had hoped; he has not resumed any baseball activities, and his timeline is ‘fluid’

• 1B/DH Jorge Polanco (left Achilles bursitis/right wrist contusion) has seen improvement in his wrist soreness, but the bursitis remains an issue; there is no timeline for his return

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Play of the Game 🌟

There were plenty of positives from last night’s contest that could have taken this spot — Ewing’s triple, Peralta’s play at the plate — but ultimately, a fielder’s choice felt like the right choice.

With the bases loaded and one out on the board, Bo Bichette slapped a 1-1 cutter in on his hands right at Tigers third baseman Gage Workman. On most other nights, it would have been Bichette’s seventh GIDP of the season. Last night, though, the baseball gods decided to finally bestow some good fortune upon a Mets team that’s been all but begging for a break.

Workman sailed his throw to second base, allowing the bases to clear and the inning to continue. Though they may have been gifted these runs by Detroit’s incredibly sloppy defense, the Mets still needed to have baserunners in position to take advantage of that situation — which they did, thanks to A.J. Ewing, Luis Torrens, and Carson Benge. Following a Marcus Semien strikeout to open the inning, Ewing and Torrens worked six- and eight-pitch walks respectively, and Benge singled on the sixth pitch he saw.

As was demonstrated on Opening Day, this team will most effectively do damage by staying patient at the plate and making purposeful contact throughout the lineup, not by swinging for the fences. Though ugly (and lucky), this play was a perfect example of how quickly things can break the good guys’ way when they’re consistently in positions to capitalize.

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Stearns Speaks 🗣️

David Stearns spoke to the media ahead of yesterday’s game to discuss the current state of the team, A.J. Ewing’s debut, and more.

Here are some quick highlights from the presser:

• When asked what gives him the confidence that Ewing is ready for the big leagues, Stearns praised Ewing’s performance in the minor leagues, the well-roundedness of his game, and the maturity he’s demonstrated throughout his time in the system.

• Regarding Luis Robert’s progression, Stearns said that ‘[his] back soreness has not resolved,’ but the front office hasn’t yet been given the indication that he needs surgery

• Stearns said he believes this roster has the ‘talent and character’ to make a run, despite the lack of evidence to date

• He also acknowledged that the front office needs to ‘look at’ their risk assessment on injured players/players who incur injuries on arrival

• On Polanco, Stearns said they need him to be asymptomatic with the bursitis before they have a tangible timeline on his return; he also indicated that team doctors have not said Polanco needs to be fully shut down from baseball activities

• Stearns got into a mildly chippy exchange with Joel Sherman when asked about Mendoza’s job status, saying he’s been ‘very clear’ that he thinks Mendoza is doing a good job, that he likes coming to work with him every day, and that he ‘won’t be addressing this every couple of weeks’

Watch the full presser above.

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Just Mets Podcast 🎙️

In this live edition of The Just Mets Podcast, Rich MacLeod and Andrew Claudio recap the Mets continuing their boring brand of baseball after yet another mediocre 3-3 week against the Rockies and Diamondbacks.

SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• RHP Jack Wenninger (No. 5 prospect, Triple-A): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K

• C Hayden Senger (Triple-A): 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR (6), 1 BB, 2 K

• RHP Brendan Girton (No. 28 prospect, Double-A): 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K

BOX SCORES

Single-A SLU (PPD) | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

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Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (16-25) vs. Tigers (19-23)

Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY

Starters: RHP Christian Scott (0-0, 3.27 ERA) vs. LHP Framber Valdez (2-2, 4.57 ERA)

When: 7:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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A debut for the literal history books ✍️

Yuki Iwamura-AP Photo

Since 1900, no rookie had ever tallied three walks, a triple, a stolen base, and multiple RBI in his debut.

Then A.J. Ewing came to town on Tuesday night.

With the Mets’ offense struggling worse than it has in decades to open its season and multiple preseason acquisitions losing significant time to injury, the front office needed to make a big move. They made arguably the biggest one they could have, promoting their No. 2 prospect to the show after just 12 games at Triple-A.

They could have gone with Nick Morabito, who already claims a 40-man roster spot and offers a bit more age and MLB-adjacent experience. They could have called up Cristian Pache or Ji Hwan Bae, both of whom have logged big league innings in the not-too-distant past and are swinging decent bats in Syracuse.

But facing a weakened Detroit pitching staff at home, why not see if your supposed center fielder of the future has the legs to take off running right now?

Boy, did he run.

Though the sentiment is certainly understandable, to say that Ewing’s promotion was purely a desperation move would be doing a disservice to his talent and skill set. It goes without saying that minor league success is no guarantee of the same in the bigs, but Ewing’s player profile isn’t exactly that of your typical minor leaguer, and certainly not that of your average 21-year-old.

Last fall, I put together a pair of prospect previews that highlighted six Mets youngsters I thought would be noteworthy in 2026. I spoke highly of Ewing, citing in particular his otherworldly base-stealing ability. Last season, no one in the minors incorporated stolen bases into their run creation formula quite like he did.

Ewing stole 70 bases across three levels last season, posting 6.9 weighted stolen base runs (wSB). Without wading too deep into the statistical waters, wSB essentially seeks to quantify the number of runs created by a player’s stolen bases relative to the average base stealer. A 6.9 wSB suggests that Ewing created roughly seven additional runs for his team(s) by swiping bags.

Paired with his 147 wRC+, Ewing’s gaudy numbers really helped him stand out from the rest of his class:

In 2024, Ewing hit .223 with a 115 wRC+ between the Complex League and Single-A. He went nuclear overnight, slashing .315/.401/.429 across St. Lucie, Brooklyn, and Binghamton in 2025. That .401 OBP was tied for fifth-best in all of the minors among hitters with at least 450 ABs; his 6.9 wSB was sixth-best. Among the top 10 base stealers in MiLB, only Ewing and former No. 1 overall prospect Konnor Griffin (65 SB) owned an OBP over .400. Unsurprisingly, Griffin was one of only two players in the minors to post a comparable wRC+ (165) and wSB (5.5) pairing to Ewing’s. (The other is the Cardinals’ Joshua Baez, who produced a 145 wRC+ and 5.0 wSB in 2025.)

Being in the same productivity conversation as the league’s top prospect feels particularly illustrative of just how impactful a player Ewing can be.

Get on base, steal the next one, score. Last night, Ewing put that formula on full display, reaching base four times and stealing his first big league bag to help set up the two-run scoring play that ultimately broke the game open. He walked three times, including a bases-loaded, two-out free pass in the ninth inning to bring in the Mets’ 10th and final run of the game.

In his first big league game, Ewing saw 23 pitches in five trips to the plate. That’s a rate of 4.6 pitches per plate appearance — league average usually hovers a little under 4.0. He saw at least six pitches in each of his walks, and attacked early in each at-bat that resulted in a batted ball (both of which were hard-hit). Ewing swung just five times all night, whiffing only once on a changeup just below the zone.

Off the bat, his zone awareness and swing discipline looked just as steady at Citi Field as they did on the farm.

Yuki Iwamura-AP Photo

Obviously, he won’t do this every game. That can’t be the expectation, and it reasonably won’t be the standard…but also, don’t be surprised if Ewing stays hot for a little while to start his big-league career.

Throughout his short but impressive minor-league resume, he’s shown an ability to quickly adapt to higher-quality competition. Through the 30 total games Ewing played at Double-A and Triple-A this season, he hit .339/.447/.514 with a 156 wRC+ and walked more than he struck out. Even considering the small sample size, his batted ball data this season looks improved over what was already an effective baseline. He’s been putting some more power behind the ball and hitting it in the air more frequently, while also spreading it to all fields more consistently. That’s a recipe for success at all levels.

With Carson Benge slashing .292/.346/.417 in his last 15 games and Ewing slotting into the everyday lineup, it appears that the future is now in Queens.

Which begs the question: who’s up next?

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Around the League 🚩

• Paul Skenes took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, finishing his night with 10 strikeouts against two hits and no walks over eight scoreless innings

• Cal Raleigh broke a 0-for-38 skid that stretched back to April 27th as the Mariners beat the Astros, 10-2

• Twins starter Bailey Ober needed just 89 pitches to finish his complete-game shutout of the Marlins, allowing just two hits while striking out seven and walking none

• Zack Wheeler threw just 16 pitches in his first three innings against the Red Sox; that’s the fewest needed to finish three frames by any starter since at least 2000