How Carson Benge's background as a pitcher strengthens his skills in the Mets' outfield

One of Carson Benge’s superpowers is his arm, so it makes sense why one of the outfielder’s favorite things to do on the diamond is throw runners out, especially at home plate.

“It’s pretty cool. It kind of fires me up,” Benge said.

Before becoming the Mets’ first-round pick in 2024, Benge starred as a two-way player for Oklahoma State, attacking hitters from the mound and throwing runners out from the outfield. He says he doesn’t miss taking the mound; even so, the 23-year-old’s pitching background has helped him throughout his rookie season.

Benge’s arm value, a Baseball Savant metric that measures a fielder’s throwing power and ability to prevent baserunners from taking extra bases, ranks in the 93rd percentile among position players. A key factor is his arm, as his throws from the outfield average 94.7 mph (seventh in MLB) and his maximum velocity is 101.6 mph (fourth in MLB).

“He had that on draft day,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said of Benge’s arm strength after he recorded two outfield assists against the Dodgers on July 24.

Benge has 1.8 wins above replacement, the third-most among National League rookie position players, according to FanGraphs.

Benge is expected to be a core piece for the Mets, who hope to return to contention in 2027 after a disappointing season turned them into trade-deadline sellers.

And while his arm is only one part of his skill set, it’s one of the tools that helped make him one of the game’s top prospects.

According to Prospects Live’s scouting report, Benge’s fastball topped out at about 96 mph in college, and he also featured a slider and changeup in his arsenal. After converting from a starter in 2023 to a reliever in 2024, he posted a 3.16 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 37 innings.

In addition to what he did on the mound, his traits as a position player made him one of the best prospects in the 2024 draft class.

“It seemed obvious from what I was hearing that they were probably going to have him be a position player just because of how elite he was as a position player, and that definitely doesn’t take away from his pitching,” said Brock Riley, who was the Chatham Anglers’ assistant pitching coach when Benge played for the Cape Cod Baseball League team in the summer of 2023.

Riley, who pitched professionally in independent baseball, said he was most impressed that Benge could “truly pitch” rather than simply be a thrower.

From their conversations, Riley said he learned Benge “really liked” pitching and that it wasn’t something forced on him.

“He was as good as any other pitcher there,” Riley said. “He definitely had the ability to pitch professionally if he wanted to go down that path.”

While Benge said he missed pitching “a little bit at first” after getting drafted, he quickly realized how difficult it is to succeed in professional baseball as merely a one-way player. Though he’s no longer pitching, his traits translated well to the outfield.

Green, who was the Mets’ vice president for player development before being named their interim manager, said Benge has always had a strong, accurate arm.

“The hope is, as you continue to make more high-leverage throws, you get more accurate with it,’’ Green said. “Typically, the way he is, high leverage, low leverage doesn’t really matter to him. You get the best version of him in all those situations.

“He doesn’t make more of it than it is, so that’s a credit to the way he’s wired. But he’s been pretty accurate since he’s had a Mets uniform on.”

Green has seen an improvement in his release time. Benge acknowledged that getting his transfer time down has been a “big part” of getting better.

“I do think, to his credit, he’s been challenged to get rid of it quicker over the last couple of years, and that is happening,” Green said.

“So now it’s strength and speed, and that really plays well.”

Even if Benge’s pitching career ended at Oklahoma State, the traits he spent time developing are still apparent from the outfield.

Every throw is another reminder that although he no longer is a pitcher, he still throws like one.