Mike Tauchman's knee injury could open door in rightfield for Carson Benge
The Mets' Mike Tauchman hits a three-run home run during the first inning of a spring training game against the Houston Astros on Feb. 24 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
JUPITER, Fla. — Mets manager Carlos Mendoza expressed concern when Mike Tauchman was sent for an MRI on Saturday, and the results will have the 35-year-old outfielder “down for a while.”
Tauchman, who was competing with top prospect Carson Benge to be the Mets’ rightfielder, suffered a torn left meniscus that requires surgery, Mendoza revealed Sunday morning. The timetable for Tauchman’s surgery and potential return is not yet known, according to Mendoza.
The injury seemingly clears the path for Benge to secure the role, but Mendoza reiterated that “we haven’t made any decisions yet.”
“I still have no clue,” Benge said Sunday. “I’ll just be patient. I waited this long. I can wait a little longer.”
Mendoza said Tauchman started feeling discomfort Saturday. He attempted to run out to rightfield before the start of the fifth inning of Saturday’s game against the Astros but pulled up before reaching the leftfield line, gingerly walking back to the Mets’ dugout. Mendoza said the trainers “kind of knew” it was serious right away.
Tauchman played 13 games in spring training and had a .241/.371/.448 slash line with a homer and six RBIs. It was possible that both Benge and Tauchman would have made the team.
“[Tauchman] is a guy that was pretty much in the mix, but we’re still good with the options that we got here,” Mendoza said. “Obviously, we got a lot of guys that are playing well, and we know injuries happen. It sucks for him and for obviously the team, but we still feel pretty good with the guys that we got here.”
Was Mendoza confident that Tauchman would have made the Opening Day roster before his injury?
“Not really,” Mendoza said. “We haven’t made the decisions because we knew usually it plays itself out, and sure enough. Unfortunately a big injury here, and that’s why it’s hard to start making decisions — he was playing well.”
The 23-year-old Benge — the Mets’ No. 2 prospect, according to MLB.com — has a .368/.442/.447 slash line with a team-high 14 hits in 13 spring training games. He told Newsday last Monday that he “learned quite a bit” from Tauchman and had “no ill intention against him at all” amid the competition, and added that he’s “excited to get out of here and go play some ball, wherever that may be.”
“[Benge] looks like a big-leaguer, and it’s not so much the results,” Mendoza said. “[You can’t] put too much into the results in spring training. It’s just the at-bat quality, his ability to make adjustments from pitch to pitch, whether it’s lefties, righties. The engagement on defense, not only with Gilbert [Gomez] as the outfield coach, but just with guys right next to him when he’s playing center, when he’s playing right. It’s just the overall awareness of his game.
“He’s been pretty impressive.”
Kimbrel won’t make team
The Mets informed nine-time All-Star Craig Kimbrel on Saturday that he will not make the Opening Day roster, Mendoza said Sunday.
There’s a chance the 37-year-old righthander will stick around in the organization, which would be with an extended spring training in Port St. Lucie to start, not a minor-league team.
“He is deciding whether he wants to stay, which it looks like he’s leaning that way,” Mendoza said. “He likes it here. He wants to win, but he also is going to look around for opportunity. But there’s a good chance he stays back here in Florida to continue to pitch until the opportunity presents. That goes to show you who he is as a person, as a human, as a competitor, because he sees a very good opportunity here.”
Mendoza said the two options for the final bullpen spot are lefthanders Richard Lovelady and Bryan Hudson. He added that they are looking for pitchers who can throw multiple innings, something the Mets feel comfortable with when it comes to Lovelady and Hudson but not Kimbrel yet. Mendoza said that decision probably won’t happen until the “last minute” and that other relievers can become available.
The Mets’ bullpen includes five righthanders — Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Luis Garcia, Huascar Brazoban and Tobias Myers — and lefthander Brooks Raley. Lefthander Sean Manaea also will start the season in a piggyback role.
Kimbrel, who had an opt-out this past Saturday or Friday, according to Mendoza, averaged 92.8 mph on his four-seamer Thursday, up from 92.1 mph Tuesday but down from his 93.5-mph average last year. In six innings, he allowed three earned runs and four hits, struck out five and walked five. He said Tuesday that there’s “absolutely” enough time for him to get where he wants to be by Opening Day.
Despite the decision, Mendoza noted the value of having a potential Hall of Famer in big-league camp.
“The impact for the past six weeks — he’s a total pro,” he said. “I said it from the beginning, well on his way to what is going to be a Hall of Fame career, and it’s not easy to deliver news to a guy like that. But for him to still consider staying with the team, it goes to show you what we’re building here, who those guys are in that clubhouse and who he is as well. So he’s now got to wait.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
