The New York Mets need outfield help, and A.J. Ewing is on the way if the Mets want to make room for him.
The New York Mets are having problems in their outfield, and aside from Juan Soto, they’re not getting much production from anyone. Their young crown jewel is rookie Carson Benge, who seized the right field job in training camp, hit a home run in his big-league debut and has done next to nothing since.
Now things are more complicated. A.J. Ewing is tearing it up on the farm, and he just earned a promotion to Triple-A Syracuse. Benge clearly didn’t get enough time at Triple-A to figure things out, and if he hits at Syracuse, they have a new problem to add to their growing list of issues.
Ewing’s backstory isn’t quite as fascinating as Benge’s, but it’s close, and now it’s closing in on the climax. Ewing started out as a second baseman, but he’s become a brilliant defensive outfielder who was almost as formidable as Benge in that category, but Benge was seen as further ahead in his development.
Maybe not, though. The 21-year old Ewings put together a slash line of .349/.481/.571 slash line with two homers in 18 games with Double-A Binghamton to start the season, and he also had 12 walks an 17 steals before he got the call. He was also one of just nine Double-A qualifiers to walk more times than he struck out while slugging above .500 going into Monday’s games.
Ewing was also starting to show some power, too. He went on a power surge late last week with two homers and a triple, and Ewing has been climbing the prospect ladder at a rate that resembles Benge’s climb. Ewing also hit .381 in spring training with an OPS of 1.090 in 26 plate appearances, but Benge outdid him with slightly better stats.
“I think he just played the game fearlessly while he was in big league camp,” senior vice president of player development Andy Green said back in March as Sam Dykstra of MLB.com referenced that quote in a piece about Ewing’s promotion. “And that's what he has to do to be successful for the long term.”
Now Ewing will host a wave of top prospects playing in Syracuse while the main act in Citi Field is failing fast. Green’s reference to the long term is interesting, because Ewing and Benge are probably two-thirds of the Mets’ outfield of the future, but right now they’re stuck behind some retreads and Luis Robert Jr., who has fallen off a cliff after a hot start. It’s a fascinating story, but no one knows how it’s going to end at the moment.