David Lennon: Mets' Carson Benge enjoys unforgettable MLB debut on Opening Day
Mets rightfielder Carson Benge is greeted in the dugout by Juan Soto after homering in his MLB debut during the sixth inning against the Pirates on Opening Day at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
There really is no putting into words what Carson Benge was feeling Thursday afternoon as he watched his sixth-inning homer clang off the top of the Mets’ bullpen roof in rightfield.
The sensory overload had to be off the charts. A 23-year-old rookie, suiting up at Citi Field for the first time, surrounded by a sellout crowd of 41,449.
Benge’s reality already had surpassed his wildest dreams as soon as he slipped on the new pinstriped No. 3, heard his name announced by Howie Rose and took his place along the first-base line during the pregame introductions.
But to barrel up a first-pitch sweeper from Pirates reliever Justin Lawrence, then listen to the stadium roar upon contact? As Benge circled first base, he leaped into the air, pumped his fist and screamed (if our lip-reading is correct), something that looked like, “Let’s [expletive] goooo!”
With that swing, Benge became only the second Met to homer in his major-league debut on Opening Day, joining Kaz Matsui, who did so on the very first pitch on April 6, 2004, in Atlanta.
Afterward, Benge himself couldn’t explain exactly what happened.
“I blacked out running around the bases,” he said, smiling. “I don’t really remember too much.”
We’ll help fill in the blanks.
As usual, the Mets won on Opening Day, this time chasing Paul Skenes — the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner — with two outs in the first inning en route to an 11-7 win.
Benge was among the five new Mets in Thursday’s lineup, a tenacious bunch that harassed Skenes for five runs and wore out Pittsburgh’s pitching staff. The Mets delivered the kind of ultracompetitive ABs that president of baseball operations David Stearns had fantasized about all winter.
But Benge wasn’t one of those seasoned vets imported to Flushing, like Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr., Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco. He’s a homegrown first-round pick (19th overall) from the 2024 draft, with only 24 Triple-A games on his resume.
Two years ago, Benge was playing for Oklahoma State, but Thursday in Queens was the site of his graduation, when he showed why the Mets took that leap of faith in giving him the rightfield job out of spring training.
It didn’t happen immediately. Benge whiffed in his first two trips to the plate. The first time, with the fading Skenes on the ropes, he flailed wildly at three straight fastballs. The next, against reliever Yohan Ramirez, Benge fouled off a pair of tough two-strike pitches before ultimately going down again.
Not the ideal start. But seeing Benge rebound proved why he’s here.
In the fifth, he worked an eight-pitch walk before scoring on Juan Soto’s RBI single. Then came the dream shot.
Once Benge got through the tunnel of hugs and high-fives, the Citi Field applause only grew louder, so he climbed to the top step and saluted the adoring crowd with his outstretched helmet.
A curtain call. In his debut. It doesn’t get much bigger.
“I kind of saw everyone just staring at me,” Benge said. “I didn’t know what to do, so I just walked up there and did that. It worked out.”
Things don’t work out by accident. He earned this opportunity, and the resiliency he displayed Thursday — shaking off that early disappointment — was a big part of his getting here.
That was hardly a surprise to Nolan McLean, his former teammate at Oklahoma State and someone who’s shown a similar grit at this level.
“We’re a clubhouse full of elite competitors who want to win,” McLean said. “And Carson’s no different. He’s trying to win every time he goes out there. You see it in the way he grinds out at-bats. So I’m sure it was a big sigh of relief getting that first hit out of the way as well as the home run, so he knocked out two birds with one stone there.”
Funny that McLean mentioned birds, because Benge also had a bizarre encounter with what appeared to be a dead pigeon in the eighth inning. Somehow, with Benge minding his own business and manning his position in rightfield, the bird must have dropped out of the sky, lying motionless in the grass. It was the only time all day Benge was unsure what to do.
“I heard a thud,” he said. “I looked over, and it was just down for the count.”
Benge did his best to ignore the dead bird; he said he wasn’t going to stop the game for it. “They were chanting to pick it up,” he said. “I’m like, nope.”
Some things you just can’t prepare for. And whatever Benge had imagined for his first Opening Day, raining pigeons in rightfield definitely wasn’t on the list. He did check a few other boxes, though.
In the eighth, after drawing his second walk, Benge picked up his first stolen base. Some would say that was an ill-timed dash, as the Mets were up 11-5 and risked retaliation. But I’d counter with Benge being a rookie who doesn’t stop competing no matter the score, and he’s not taking any of this for granted.
Benge became only the 14th player with a home run and stolen base in his major-league debut since 1898 and the second Met, along with Lenny Dykstra in 1985 (hat tip to MLB researcher Sarah Langs).
That’s some rare company, and this Opening Day, in front of a capacity crowd that included 22 family and friends, had Benge smiling long after the final out.
How close did his debut come to the way he always pictured it?
“Everything and more,” Benge said. “You really can’t top it by trying to imagine it. Once you’re there, you’ll know the feeling.”
Few will ever experience firsthand what Benge did Thursday afternoon at Citi Field. But those who were there will recall that memory fondly.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
