The New York Mets' new right fielder faces a big challenge, but Josh Holliday and Robin Ventura think he's up for it.
New York Mets prospect Carson Benge faced a pair of formidable challenges when he came to camp this spring, but he’s already conquered the first one, making the roster as the Mets new right fielder.
Now Benge faces a bigger challenge. He’ll be hitting against Pittsburgh Pirates starter Paul Skenes on Opening Day tomorrow, and Benge will have a lot coming at him, as Tim Britton of The Athletic noted in a piece he did that included some comments from those who worked with Benge at Oklahoma State.
“He could have played in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s,” says Josh Holliday, who coached Benge at OSU. “He could have played all eight positions. He could pitch, he could hit, he plays hurt. He laughs and has fun, but he takes it serious. He doesn’t overthink it, yet he’s a very smart player.
“This guy is just a baseball player.”
Holliday went on to describe Benge as a player who won’t be reading the papers on a daily basis to see how the media is tracking and grading him.
”Some guys don’t walk to that beat,” Holliday added. “They do what they do, and they do it in a way where they’re comfortable.”
Trey Cobb scouted Benge for the Mets, and one of the issues he covered with the prospect was whether he was ready for the New York baseball environment.
“One of the things I asked him when I first interviewed him: Is there anything nervous about New York?” Cobb remembered. “He smiled so big: ‘Nope, not at all.’ There you go.”
One former player who knows all about that environment is former Mets third baseman Robin Ventura, who has worked with Benge as a volunteer assistant coach at Oklahoma State.
“You didn’t really have to do a lot with him as a hitter,” Ventura said. “There were things there he just innately knew how to do, and you didn’t want to mess with it. He just gets things quick.”
Ventura also noted that Benge enjoys “team things,” and he sees the Mets’ newest outfielder as a player others will want to be around once he establishes himself. He’ll be low-key at first, but no one Britton talked to thought that Benge would be intimidated or nervous when he steps into the box against Skenes tomorrow.
None of this guarantees that Benge will succeed right away, of course. Facts are facts, and he’s making a big jump from Double-A to the majors without getting a lot of at-bats at Triple-A Syracuse, where he struggled at the end of last season.
No one knows quite what’s going to happen when he takes the field tomorrow, but the one thing that’s certain is that his composure will be tested in new ways he’s never experienced before.