NEW YORK -- The hit in question was a check-swing bouncer up the third-base line, ugly as they come, yet still a testament to all the things Carson Benge can do with a baseball bat in his hands. On Saturday alone, Benge belted a 370-foot home run, collected a broken-bat bloop single and added his swinging bunt one inning later.
He came away with the Mets’ rookie record for hits in a season, collecting his 156th in a 10-3 win over the Phillies to pass Pete Alonso’s mark of 155.
“It’s special,” Benge said. “It’s special to see the guys that have come through here, all the greats and the types of players that have come through here and been rookies here. So being able to hold that is pretty special.”
After homering off Andrew Painter in the second, Benge reached base in three consecutive innings late in the game: walking in the sixth, singling for his 155th career hit in the seventh, and singling again for his 156th in the eighth. As the Mets flashed word of his achievement on the Citi Field video board, Benge doffed his helmet to the crowd.
“It’s amazing,” Benge said. “Even though we’re out of it, we’ve still got the best fans in the world. So being able to see that was pretty cool.”
Before Alonso set the Mets’ rookie record in 2019, Ty Wigginton (146 hits) held it for 16 seasons. The Major League rookie record for hits is 242 by Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Benge joined Corbin Carroll, Mike Trout and Corey Seager as the only active Major Leaguers who hold a franchise rookie hits record.
“There’s no clean way to get him out,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said.
“I feel like it’s just really tough to get him to swing and miss multiple times in an at-bat,” added starting pitcher Christian Scott. “I feel like when he sees one pitch in an at-bat, he kind of learns from it. He just continues to make good contact and put good swings on the ball. It’s been huge for us. I don’t know where we’d be without him, but I’m really glad he’s on my team for sure.”
Similar to Trout, Benge did not succeed immediately at the highest level. After making the Mets’ Opening Day roster, he hit just .136 over the first 20 games of his career, prompting questions about a potential Minor League demotion. But the Mets kept Benge in the Majors, where he quickly demonstrated an ability to adapt. Since April 23, Benge has been one of the league’s most consistent hitters, batting .294 while posting a dozen three-hit games.
“I came in knowing I belonged,” Benge said. “It was kind of rough there in the beginning, but sticking to my path and grinding out every day, and now finally showing others that I finally belong here too.”
Unlike Alonso, whose debut season included a Major League rookie record 53 homers, Benge has collected a wide variety of hits: 19 homers, three triples, 19 doubles and 115 singles. He also has 22 stolen bases, which is two shy of the Mets’ rookie record that A.J. Ewing and Mookie Wilson share. The Mets’ first-round Draft pick in 2024, Benge debuted on Opening Day and has appeared in 149 of the team’s 155 games since that time.
“He’s just a baseball player, which is one of the best compliments you can give somebody,” Green said. “He does everything really well. He hit the home run -- you probably envision breaking the record with that home run early in the game. You break the record with a check-swing swinging bunt down the line. That’s poetic. You get hits all sorts of different ways.”
Despite his exploits, Benge is an underdog to win National League Rookie of the Year honors given Sal Stewart’s 32-homer, 110-RBI season in Cincinnati. But Benge should still receive votes for the award, along with Ewing and Nolan McLean.
Asked if he took any grief for the fact that his record-setting hit came on a check-swing bouncer, Benge began laughing.
“I don’t care,” he quipped in response. “They don’t have the record.”