Recognition Keeps Coming For Mets' Carson Benge And Nolan McLean

At this point, it might be wise for the New York Mets' Carson Benge and Nolan McLean to invest in much larger trophy cases.

In a 2026 season full of discord for the Mets, rookie rightfielder Benge and first-year starting pitcher McLean have been beacons of hope, with the rest of MLB quickly taking notice in the form of postseason honors.

Both figure to finish in the top five of NL Rookie of the Year voting, with Benge given a puncher's chance of winning the award, but a number of ancillary of honors have also begun to roll in.

It began in September, when Benge was named the starting rightfielder on MLB.com's All-Debut Team, which is reserved for players who got their first taste of big-league ball in 2026.

Then, on Oct. 6, the duo was named to MLB.com's All-Rookie Teams. Benge earned the First Team slot in right courtesy of a season that saw him play 156 games and compile a final batting average of .282 with a .776 OPS, 22 doubles, 20 home runs and 65 RBIs.

McLean was awarded Second Team recognition as a starter thanks to a final 2026 won-loss line of 12-10 with a 3.16 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP and 194 strikeouts in a team-high 179.2 innings and 31 starts.

Their latest recognition came on Wednesday and it proves that they are not just one-trick hitting or pitching ponies as both were one of three nominees at their positions for a 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Rawlings, the glove manufacturer, is in its 60th season partnering with MLB to recognize and reward the game's top defensive players.

According to MLB, Benge was nominated because of his "sublime defense," which included 10 assists, making him one of seven outfielders to record 10 or more assists this season, while his cannon arm allowed him to average 96.6 mph on his throws, fifth-best in the game.

That arm strength also enabled him to author one of the season's top defensive "Wow!" moments, the Aug. 17 game against the San Diego Padres when he threw out Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado at the plate on consecutive plays courtesy of 99.9- and 103.9-mph throws.

Benge will be battling Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs and Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the Gold Glove in right.

In his 31 starts, McLean totaled 24 assists and 16 putouts with three errors for a .930 fielding percentage. He was also adept at holding runners close at first, with Mets' catchers facing only six stolen-base tries while he was on the mound.

When considering the advanced Defensive Runs (DRS) metric, which measures a player's defensive performance by calculating how many runs they saved or cost their team compared to an average player at their position, McLean scored a +4, second best in the game.

The pitcher who had the highest DRS (+5), Michael McGreevy of the St. Louis Cardinals, has also been nominated for the NL pitchers' Gold Glove, along with Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves.

But that's not all, folks.

Joining Benge and McLean on the Mets' Gold Glove honor roll is catcher Luis Torrens. The seven-year veteran, who just completed his second season with the Mets, was third among all MLB backstops with a +12 DRS. He committed only two errors among 718 chances for a .997 fielding percentage. He also gunned down 17 of 27 attempted base-stealers, a 38.6% success rate that was well higher than the league average of 23.3%

Torrens' competition for the Gold Glove is the Padres' Freddy Fermin and Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards will be handed out on ESPN on Sunday, Nov. 1.