Carson Benge gave Citi Field another reason to stand during the Mets’ 10-3 Saturday win over Philadelphia, collecting the hits that moved him past Pete Alonso for the most in a single season by a Mets rookie. The 2024 first-round pick reached 156 hits, breaking a club mark that had stood as one of Alonso’s many landmarks from his debut year.
Two innings, one new rookie record
Benge matched the record in the seventh inning when a broken-bat flare fell into shallow right-center. In the eighth, he put down a slow roller along the third-base line and beat it out for an RBI infield hit, giving him sole possession of the franchise rookie record.
Once the accomplishment appeared on the Citi Field board, Benge tipped his helmet toward the crowd.
- 155th hit: a seventh-inning single on a broken bat, tying Alonso’s Mets rookie mark.
- 156th hit: an eighth-inning RBI infield single down the third-base line, setting the new record.
- Saturday’s performance was Benge’s 12th game with three hits this season.
A rookie season built on more than home runs
Benge also went deep in the second inning against Phillies starter Andrew Painter. His 19 home runs are a strong part of the résumé, but they have not defined it the way Alonso’s power did during his 53-homer rookie season, a Major League record for first-year players.
The Mets rookie has filled the scorebook in nearly every way, mixing extra-base punch with a steady stream of singles and an active running game.
| Category | Benge’s 2024 total |
|---|---|
| Hits | 156 |
| Home runs | 19 |
| Triples | 3 |
| Doubles | 19 |
| Singles | 115 |
| Stolen bases | 22 |
His 22 steals leave him two short of the Mets’ rookie stolen-base record, shared by A.J. Ewing and Mookie Wilson.
From rough opening to everyday contributor
The start did not forecast this kind of season. Benge batted .136 through the first 20 games of his Major League career, then settled into the daily rhythm of the lineup. Since that early stretch, he has hit .294 and become one of the club’s more reliable offensive pieces.
He has been available almost every day since making the Opening Day roster, appearing in 149 of New York’s first 155 games. For a player drafted only in 2024, that workload has made the record chase feel less like a sudden burst and more like the product of a full season’s work.
Rookie of the Year race remains crowded
Benge’s record-setting campaign may not be enough to make him the National League Rookie of the Year favorite. Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart has put together a 32-home run, 110-RBI season that gives him the inside track for the award.
Still, Benge’s name should be on plenty of ballots, alongside fellow Mets rookies Ewing and Nolan McLean. The helmet tip on Saturday belonged to Benge alone, though: 156 hits, and a new standard for a Mets rookie.
