Brooklyn Digest: Mets Workout Ahead Of Opening Day

Citi Field is ready for Opening Day. Photos by Jason Schott.

Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza (left) looks on during Workout Day.

"We have a really good opportunity to do something special here, and our goal is, not only playing in October, but deep into October, and winning the World Series is the goal."

Those were the words of Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza when asked about his expectations for his ballclub.

This is his third season at the helm, and he has succeeded in part of that goal once, as he guided them to the National League Championship Series a couple years ago before shockingly missing the playoffs last season.

This is a far-different looking Mets team than the last time they were at Citi Field, as they underwent one of the most transformative offseasons in their history.

That was evident on Wednesday, watching star shortstop Francisco Lindor going through infield drills with his new teammates, Bo Bichette at third base, Marcus Semien at second, and Jorge Polanco at first.

Polanco signed as a free agent after a breakout 2025 season, in which he hit .265 with 26 home runs and 78 RBI with the Seattle Mariners, who made it to within one game of the World Series, as they lost to Bichette's former team, the Toronto Blue Jays in a seven-game American League Championship Series.

The outfield has also undergone a renovation, as Juan Soto has shifted to left field, Luis Robert Jr., who they acquired from the Chicago White Sox, is in center field, and top prospect Carson Benge won the right field starting job out of camp.

Benge enters this season as the No. 2 prospect in the Mets system, and No. 16 in all of baseball.

The Oklahoma City native, who played his college baseball at Oklahoma State, was drafted in the first round, 19th overall, by the Mets in 2024.

Following the draft, Benge played 15 games for Single-A St. Lucie, in which he hit .273, with two home runs and eight RBI, with a superb .420 on-base percentage and .436 slugging percentage.

In 2025, Benge spent time with three Mets affiliates, starting with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones, in which he slashed .302/.417/.480, with four home runs and 37 RBI in 60 games. He then played 32 games at Double-A Binghamton, (.317/.407/.571, eight home runs, and 23 RBI) and 24 games at Triple-A Syracuse (.178/.272/.311), three home runs, 13 RBI.

Mendoza said of the qualities that he sees in Benge that make him believe he will succeed in the Major Leagues, "Personality, how steady, how consistent he is. He doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low. I was surprised that I finally got a smile out of him when I delivered the news, when I was telling him that he made the team, but it goes to show you that he's very mature, and to be able to play at this level on a team that has high expectations, you need that consistency, you need that type of personality, where you're going to have success, but you're also going to fail, and having that ability to handle adversity is huge, and there was a lot of expectations going into camp from him, and he handled himself, carried himself in the way he played. Goes to show you who he is, and he's ready for this spot."

Carlos Mendoza during his pregame press conference.

The Mets Opening Day starter will be another new face, Freddy Peralta, whom they acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Peralta went 17-16 last season, with decisions in all 33 of his starts, proving how deep he goes into games, something the Mets had to address after last season. The right-hander had a 2.70 ERA (earned run average) with 176.2 inning pitches, and 204 strikeouts, while surrendering only 66 walks.

Mendoza said of his new ace, "As soon as we made the trade with Peralta, people reached out and were telling me how good of a person this guy is, and we saw it from the very beginning. The impact, the way he carries himself, he just, like I said, probably not surprising, but he was just really good to see him interact and just go about his business."

IMAGES FROM METS WORKOUT DAY: