PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- When the Mets signed outfielder Mike Tauchman to a Minor League contract earlier this week, clubhouse attendants cleared out Carson Benge’s locker and moved Benge to a temporary stall alongside other prospects. Previously, Benge had lockered next to Juan Soto. Now that space belongs to the veteran Tauchman.
It is perhaps an apt metaphor for the Mets’ right-field competition, which grew noticeably more crowded when Tauchman showed up on Thursday for his first day of workouts. While Mets officials still plan to give Benge, their No. 2 prospect, every opportunity to make the team, Tauchman represents a realistic threat to supplant the rookie if he doesn’t play well.
The situation reminds Tauchman of his first spring with the Cubs, in 2023, when he was a non-roster invitee battling -- among others -- highly regarded prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong for a roster spot. While neither Tauchman nor Crow-Armstrong wound up making that team, they eventually coexisted on Chicago’s roster for the better part of two seasons.
The situation with Tauchman and Benge appears similar.
“It’s a highly talented player that the organization sees as being a core part of the team for a number of years,” Tauchman said. “From my experience the last few years, almost every team ends up using the entirety of the 40-man roster and then some. The seasons are very long, and it’s full of a lot of ups, downs, unforeseen things, plans. … The chips are going to fall where they may.”
The chips that Tauchman brings to the table, in manager Carlos Mendoza’s words, are his skills as a “really good defender” who “can play all three” outfield positions. Offensively, Tauchman “controls the zone really well” as a left-handed hitter with “some damage there, too.” Such skills allowed him to produce a .356 on-base percentage with nine home runs in 93 games last season for the White Sox.
As late in the year as July 26, Tauchman held an .851 OPS. But he injured his right knee in late July and played through varying degrees of pain the rest of the season, delivering a .635 OPS the rest of the way before finally shutting things down in late September. Two days after the season, Tauchman underwent surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his knee.
“I feel like I’m in a really good spot [now],” he said. “I feel like I have a lot to offer. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
In addition to Tauchman and Benge, Tyrone Taylor and Brett Baty are vying for reps in right field. But Taylor is coming off a season with a .598 OPS, while Baty has never played right as a professional. As such, Tauchman represents perhaps a greater threat to Benge as a potential everyday player, at least early in the season.
There’s also solid recent history here. Since returning from Korea in 2023, the 35-year-old Tauchman has produced a .740 OPS and a 108 league-adjusted OPS+, thanks in large part to a .359 on-base percentage. He doesn’t have pronounced platoon splits. Last year, Tauchman rated in the 84th percentile in the Majors in walk rate and 78th percentile in chase rate, suggesting he still possesses one of the game’s keener batting eyes.
Like most veterans on Minor League contracts, Tauchman negotiated an opt-out near the end of Spring Training, which could force the Mets to put him on the roster or release him. But that’s an issue for another day. For now, all Tauchman can do is play as well as possible to make decisions difficult for management -- whether that comes at Benge’s expense or not.
“I think I have a good opportunity to make the team out of camp and then also have a Spring Training that I think is going to allow me to prepare myself for a season regardless -- just in terms of reps, at-bats, opportunities,” Tauchman said. “I know that this team is committed to winning, which I think is advantageous for a player that has my history and skill set. So I would say that combination of factors made it the right choice.”