Benge Finishes 2nd In NL Rookie Of The Year Voting

New York Mets' rightfielder Carson Benge entered his rookie campaign in 2026 as one of the top 20 prospects in baseball and he did not disappoint while racking up a series of superlatives and accolades that was nearly as long and accurate as his 100-mph-plus throws from right to home plate:

• Mets' rookie record 168 hits

• Fifth NL rookie ever, and first Met, to record a 20-homer, 20-steal season

• Inclusion on MLB's All-Debut Team, which honors those players who saw their first major-league action in 2026

• A spot on the MLB All-Rookie First Team

• Rawlings Gold Glove finalist

Benge, however, fell just short of reeling in the biggest honor as MLB announced on Monday that he had finished a strong second to Cincinnati Reds' first baseman Sal Stewart in balloting for the NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award.

Rookie of the Year is voted on by two members of the Baseball Writers Association of America from each NL city. The voting system awards seven points for a first-place vote, four points for second, three points for third, two points for fourth and one point for fifth.

The final tally showed Stewart with 170 total points with 20 first-place votes, five seconds, one third, three fourths and one fifth. Benge nabbed seven first-place votes with three seconds, 12 thirds, four fourths and two fifths.

The award's other finalist, St. Louis Cardinals' second baseman J.J. Wetherholt, placed third. He had more second-place votes than Benge with 12, but just three firsts, which combined with six thirds, five fourths and two fifths left him with 99 total points.

While Benge's end-of-season numbers made him an undoubted favorite in the ROY race, the season did not start out that way. At the conclusion of play on May 2, he was batting .179 with a .498 OPS, two doubles and two home runs.

From that point through the end of the season, he hit .302 with an .828 OPS thanks to 20 doubles, three triples and 18 home runs with 16 stolen bases.

That helped him finish his debut campaign at the plate with a .282 average, .776 OPS, 22 doubles, 20 homers, 65 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.

Benge was also superb defensively as he led all NL rightfielders with 10 assists and the majors with two outfield double plays.

That all-around excellence allowed Benge to lead the Mets with a 4.3 WAR, but the ROY voters appeared to be swayed by Stewart's dominance in the traditional counting categories as he hit 32 homers with 112 RBIs during the season while appearing in all 162 games. That was still only good, however, for a 2.0 WAR.

Two other Mets also placed in the top nine in the final ROY voting. Pitcher Nolan McLean, who earlier this offseason was recognized as the first rookie hurler to win a Gold Glove, finished fourth overall with 70 points, which were nearly evenly spread amongst second- through fifth-place votes.

Center fielder A.J. Ewing placed ninth with one fifth-place vote.

All of which hopefully signals a brighter future for the Mets as the first-year players were the top three in WAR for New York this season, with Benge's 4.3 followed by McLean's 3.1 and Ewing's 3.0, which was tied with veteran leftfielder Juan Soto.