Big spring question for Mets: Will Benge break camp?

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Already, Port St. Lucie, Fla., is buzzing with activity. Many pitchers and catchers are present, ready to begin formal workouts in earnest this week.

Considering the Mets turned over nearly a third of their roster this winter, this should be an even more interesting camp than usual. Relationships will form. Bonds will take shape. And, most importantly, the Mets will spend the next seven weeks figuring out who is going to make their team.

Will Carson Benge make the club?
From the jump this offseason, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns made it known that he intended to give Benge, the organization’s No. 2 prospect, a clear shot at making the team. True to his word, Stearns did essentially nothing to address left field, leaving it wide open for Benge to claim.

That doesn’t mean team officials will simply hand the job to Benge, a 23-year-old who has played a total of 24 games -- mostly unsuccessfully -- above Double-A. But the Mets believe in Benge’s talent, which allowed him to dominate High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton last season. They’re going to give him a real chance to compete for the job.

If Benge can’t win it, Tyrone Taylor would make sense as the regular left fielder -- not an ideal outcome, given that Taylor supplemented his excellent defense with a .598 OPS last season. The other competitors are Brett Baty, a natural third baseman who can no longer play that position due to the Mets’ signing of Bo Bichette, and journeyman Jared Young. Baty spent the latter part of his offseason working out in left field, and he’ll continue to do so in Spring Training. It’s a long way of noting that while the Mets have options, Benge is their clear Option A.

Who rounds out the bullpen?
The subtitle of this one may as well be: “Tracking Craig Kimbrel’s progress in camp.”

In January, the Mets signed Kimbrel to a Minor League contract worth $2.5 million if he makes the Major League club. Kimbrel is, of course, an expected future Hall of Famer. His 440 career saves rank second among active pitchers behind Kenley Jansen (476), and fifth all time. All three players with more saves than those two (Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith) are already in Cooperstown.

But Kimbrel is 37 now, three years removed from his most recent All-Star season. Since losing back-to-back games with the Phillies in the 2023 postseason, Kimbrel has bounced amongst five organizations. He’s been designated for assignment or released three times. While Kimbrel did put up a 2.25 ERA over 12 Major League innings in 2025, that’s hardly a large enough sample to engender much optimism.

Still, Kimbrel’s career track record is excellent, and the Mets’ bullpen competition is wide open. The team only has four Opening Day locks in Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley and Luis García. That leaves as many as four more spots up for grabs for the likes of Kimbrel, Huascar Brazobán, Tobias Myers and (if healthy enough to make the team) A.J. Minter. The Mets also intend to take long looks at a group of young, hard-throwing relievers including Dylan Ross, Ryan Lambert and Jonathan Pintaro.

Will Kodai Senga force his way back into the rotation?
Last we saw Senga, he was faring so poorly that he consented to a Minor League demotion … then continued to struggle the rest of the way at Triple-A Syracuse. Senga has now had a full offseason to solidify his health and work on his mechanics, and the Mets are financially motivated to continue giving him a shot. The right-hander is, after all, due another $30 million over the next two seasons.

But Senga’s uneven performances have left him in a place where the Mets can no longer rely on him. Nor do they need to. With Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes and David Peterson in house, the Mets already have five bona fide big league starters. Several others -- including No. 3 prospect Jonah Tong, Christian Scott and Myers -- will vie for jobs in camp.

That all leaves Senga in an interesting spot. If he can find his top form in February and March, it would be easy for the Mets to carry him as part of a six-man rotation to start the season. His upside as a frontline starter remains obvious. But if Senga continues to struggle, the Mets will have a problem. He cannot be optioned to the Minors again without his consent. Would he provide that? Would the Mets find another use for him, perhaps in the bullpen? Or would they try to find a trade partner, as they did early this offseason? Right now with Senga, there are more questions than answers.