Carson Grant Benge (born January 20, 2003) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

in the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

organization. He was drafted by the Mets in the

2024 MLB draft The 2024 Major League Baseball Draft took place on July 14–16, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The first six selections were set via a lottery, with first round picks ...

in the first round with the 19th overall pick. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

as an outfielder and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

Amateur career

Benge attended

Yukon High School Yukon High School is a secondary school located within Canadian County in Yukon, Oklahoma. Notable alumni * Phil Ball (1943), former college football coach *Garth Brooks (1980), country singer * Cam Martin (2017), NBA G League basketball player ...

Yukon, Oklahoma Yukon is a city in eastern Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 23,630 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Founded in the 1890s, the town was named in reference to a gold rush in Yukon Territory, Canada, at the ...

, where he played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He committed to play

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

prior to his senior year. As a senior in 2021, Benge pitched to an 8–1 record with 124 strikeouts alongside batting .490. He went unselected in the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was s ...

and enrolled at Oklahoma State. Benge redshirted and did not appear in a game in 2022 after undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. He made his collegiate debut in 2023, pitching to a 6.69 ERA over 35 innings and appearing in 59 games primarily in

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

. He batted .345 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs. That summer, he briefly played for the

Chatham Anglers The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. Benge entered the 2024 season as a top prospect for the upcoming draft. Over 61 games, he hit .335 with 18 home runs and 64 RBIs alongside posting a 3.16 ERA over 37 innings.

Professional career

Benge was selected by the

in the first round with the 19th overall pick of the 2024 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Mets on July 23 for $4 million, and confirmed that he would focus solely on playing outfield as opposed to continuing to be a

two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...

. After signing, Benge made his professional debut with the St. Lucie Mets, hitting .273 with two home runs over 15 games. He was assigned to the

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island ...

to open the 2025 season. In June, he was promoted to the

Binghamton Rumble Ponies The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mi ...

Personal life

Benge is a

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

citizen. Benge's older brother, Garrett, was drafted in the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on June 12, while the remai ...

in the 13th round by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

References

External links

Oklahoma State Cowboys bio
2003 births Living people Baseball players from Oklahoma Baseball outfielders Baseball pitchers Chatham Anglers players Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball players People from Yukon, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation sportspeople Native American baseball players 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-outfielder-stub