Are A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge the new and best hopes for the Mets?

Fri, May 15, 2026

On this edition of Mets Mailbag, SNY's Michelle Margaux is joined by SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes to take on fan questions about the state of the team. Questions are answered about the sparks provided by A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge, possible trade acquisitions to come, and a dive into the deep on this query: "if the 2026 Mets season was a fruit, what would it be?"

Video Transcript

If the Mets' 2026 season was a fruit, what would it be?

Oh, no.

that is a really good question.

Welcome to Mets Mailbag, the show where we answer your questions.

I'm your host, Michelle Margone.

Today, I'm joined by SNY MLB insider Chelsea James.

Hello, Chelsea.

Hello.

Good to see you.

Great to see you.

just a reminder before we get started, every week you can go to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to look for a post from SNY's account asking to submit your questions to the show.

if you are watching on YouTube, you can also drop your questions in the comment section below.

So Chelsea, we are gonna start off with @jockala, I think is the username.

"With Benge and Ewing now contributing to the Major League squad, which of the Mets prospects are most likely to get a call-up at some point later in the season?"

Yeah.

Wow.

I mean, pretty much every other question I've answered in these mailbags thus far has been like, "Why are the Mets so bad and ruining my life?"

So this is, like, pretty pleasant.

no.

I, yeah, I mean, Ewing was the obvious one.

I think Jonah Tang is still the most likely to appear.

I know Weninger has been pitching really well.

I think he'll show up at some point this year too, but you know, Tang, Weninger.

I still think Ryan Lambert, the reliever who was in camp, has a chance to show up at some point in the big leagues just 'cause his strikeout numbers are insane.

ERA is pretty high right now, but it's, like, 14.

I mean, the, the stuff is there, so I think, I think right now it's the pitching side, in part 'cause they've kind of really poached everything they had on the position playing side to try to get things right at the big league level.

But yeah, I think that's probably where we're looking and, and Jonah Tang, I think, is probably the one I'd bet on seeing first.

What about, like, a Ryan Clifford?

Yeah, that's a really interesting one, actually.

Yeah, I, I'm not quite sure kind of what to make of, of that situation.

I think obviously Polanco's timeline is indefinite.

Yeah.

but yeah, I mean, that's somebody I think we'll probably see at some point too if, if not, you know, before September, certainly, certainly when we get there.

Yeah.

Well, another guy that's been injured, @ImJustJack06 said, "What will the Mets do with Luis Robert Jr. now that Benge and Ewing are up?"

Yeah.

Luis Robert Jr. is the reason I'm not sure when you'll see Clifford, because I think they're gonna have a log jam and they're gonna have to find some places for people and, and that was an unthinkable problem, I mean, even 10 days ago.

But you know, I think in your ideal outfield when Robert Jr. gets back, it's, it's Benge, Ewing, Robert Jr.

So then what does that do for Juan Soto?

Probably means Juan Soto has to DH a little more, although he- we know he likes to play the field.

But again, like, if you get to a point where all those guys are healthy at once, you deal with that then.

I think Robert's a long- Yeah way away.

And so who knows if that problem will materialize, but I will say if it does and you bump Soto to DH and Polanco comes back, you know, you probably don't need help at first base anymore, but lotta ifs there.

But man, Robert, Ewing, Benge in the outfield in meaningful games would be It'd be really hard to, to find grass, you know, for the opposing team, and that would be, that would be a better run prevention outfield than the Mets have had in a really long time, so credit David Stearns if that happens.

Yeah, nobody's ever gonna complain about depth, but of course, with just the way things happen, it's very rare to have everybody healthy at once.

@CapnSammy said, "What do the Mets do with Chaminaye and David Peterson, especially with Weninger, banging down the door at Syracuse for a call-up?"

It's a great question.

I, I don't think the pressure is coming from Weninger necessarily.

I think the pressure is coming from the fact that with Chaminaye especially, like, it's been kinda non-competitive at times, which is really hard to say.

Like, the hard part about this is that Chaminaye and Peterson are both good guys who have been good guys in this clubhouse for a while, and who you wanna see succeed.

And I think, especially in Chaminaye's case, that m- you know, he maybe is getting a little bit of a longer leash.

Certainly, the money is part of it.

He's making so much money, it's not like you can just, you know, throw that away.

But I, I do think there are some places where he would not be getting the chances he is in the bullpen right now, 'cause he just doesn't look right.

Like, you know, he says he's healthy, everyone says he's healthy, but like, that's not, that's not Chaminaye, the guy we're seeing right now.

That's not the guy the Mets signed, so something isn't working.

All of which is to say, I think the Mets are gonna come to a decision there.

I think the pressure is probably coming when AJ Minter gets back, and then you kinda have to decide, you know, what you wanna do in your bullpen.

And so that's where that's coming.

I think they keep Peterson as long as they can.

I know they've been talking to him, you know, to teams about him at various points in the last few months, so who knows if something materializes there.

You know, he's not disposable, but he's someone I think maybe if, if you think another team can fix him, you know, you can maybe entice them if you need something else, like bullpen help or whatever.

So I would say the question of what happens with Chaminaye and Peterson is one of the, the big questions that this team has in kind of the immediate next few weeks.

and I guess what I just told you is I don't know.

I don't know.

But you made a really good point.

Chaminaye and David Peterson do play a role.

Whether they're performing well on the field or not, they are playing a role in that clubhouse where there are so many young guys, and a young Nolan McLain, like, that kind of thing, where David Peterson and Chaminaye I've seen firsthand be veterans to these guys.

so there's something to be said for having someone like that in your clubhouse, despite not being at their peak performance.

Chaminaye at the chess club in, in spring training.

Like, he was making all the young guys comfortable.

Yes.

You know, it's like, it From the outside, it's very easy to make these moves.

From the inside, it's, it's different, especially because Chaminaye and David Peterson are always gonna believe they're one start away from figuring it out, and maybe they're right.

I mean, so it's- Yeah it's really tough, but I think some tough choices are coming.

Zach Fernandez said, "Who is the first trade acquisition for the New York Mets during this season?

"It's disgusting how much I wanna get this right.

I'm like, I got I want this so right.

No, there's no chance I get it right.

But okay, so if Here's how I think about this.

I think it's clear to me that they're n- as things stand at this exact moment- Yes I don't think they're gonna try to make a big splash with the lineup.

I think Ewing and Benge have been enough of an injection of life, and with all the guys that could come back from injury, I think it doesn't seem like they're gonna make the shakeup there.

So where do they need help?

I think probably they need it most in bullpen depth, um- Mm-hmm and maybe the back end of the rotation.

So thinking of it that way, and, you know, particularly because I think bullpen depth usually becomes a problem sort of more often, I'm thinking reliever.

and I'm trying to think, like, who that could be.

It's I think we have to like- Give us the juicy name, Chelsea.

Here, I have a few.

Jeff Hoffman of the Toronto Blue Jays- Ooh, okay is my hot take.

I could see them needing starting pitching 'cause everyone's hurt, so could you flip somebody there, and get him, who has been kinda underperforming this year?

You wouldn't have to have him close.

Bryan Abreu with the Astros is a really good reliever if they decide to sell.

Obviously, another name that comes to mind there is Josh Hader, but I don't w- I don't think we know for sure that that would be someone who's available.

And then someone I'm just curious to see if they would, would take a chance on is, is Foster Griffin with the Nats.

I think pretty much every pitcher on the Nats is available right now.

He's had a great year coming back from Asia, and, you know, if they decide that Cristian Scott's not sturdy enough or, or Peterson's not gonna be the guy or whatever it is, Senga's not gonna make his way back, which, who knows?

You know, I think maybe a starter that isn't gonna be super costly and take a lot in prospects could be someone they look at in the next few months.

So pitcher for sure, and we'll see how close I get.

Probably not very close.

I No, I love, I love when you give us names.

okay, but you did mention Kodai Senga, which brings us to our next question.

Yeah.

@trob300, "Will Senga pitch for the Mets again?"

It sounds like you think no.

I don't know.

So he threw a, kind of a sim game yesterday where they had everybody out with all the cameras, and he faced a few batters, but it wasn't alive.

And I don't think You know, a lot, a lot of times when pitchers are rehabbing and throwing games like that on the field, everybody's watching.

They're just out there.

Justin Willard, the pitching coach, Mendoza, they're just, like, locked in.

And that was not what was happening when Kodai Senga was on the mound.

It was, you know, few coaches out, few guys taking swings.

It very much looked like he was trying to figure things out, you know, more than ramping up to be back soon.

So, you know, I saw he told Anthony DeComo that his back feels pretty good, but he's kind of working on getting his stuff back.

You know, I think he's Clearly there's been something wrong physically, so he's working through that.

But all of that is to say, I don't sense a great rush on his part, and I don't sense a great rush on the Mets part, and I think that's probably for the best, right?

Like, clearly he needs a little bit of a reset.

Clearly they can't afford to give him that in the majors.

You know, the back thing kind of gave everyone a break to be able to say, "Let's, let's get right," and I don't think there's gonna be a huge urgency to do that.

I, I do think that injuries happen and things happen and urgency can get created.

You know, maybe Jonah Tang's not on turn.

Maybe, you know, you, you There's a lot of reasons he could appear again.

But I would say I don't, I don't know for sure that he appears again for the Mets, and I certainly don't see it happening anytime soon.

Yeah, they've, they've struggled and tried so hard to keep Senga healthy, that I just don't think it's even worth trying to get him back until they know that he is.

and that's been over time.

That's not just this s- season.

Koloy Miller, this is an interesting one, asked, "Can MJ Melendez play catcher?

We're talking about catching depth, and he came up as a catching prospect with Kansas City.

Any chance he plays, if there's another injury, or does it go down the depth chart to Ben Rortvedt?"

That's a really good question.

One of my favorite questions to ask people is, who is your emergency catcher?

Um- because I have, I have no hobbies, you know?

And it's like, who's the guy if all goes wrong?

I'm su I'm He's probably that guy on their roster right now.

That being said, I don't, I don't think if you have Ben Rortvedt in the system that you're giving Melendez reps back there.

It's been a while for him.

And Rortvedt's a really good catcher back there.

I mean, he's been a presence for the Dodgers in recent years.

Like, he can kinda just be plugged in and help with pitchers.

People really respect him.

So, you know, Senga, I think you have to give a chance just 'cause there's upside, right?

But I think Rortvedt's probably pretty solid.

I think if we see MJ Melendez behind the plate, a lot has gone wrong, and that is no knock on MJ Melendez.

You also have Kevin Ferrada.

Totally.

Great point.

Yeah.

I always love hearing your catching takes.

Just so people know- Chelsea was a catcher at Yale in college.

Um- Not a good one, but I did do that.

What?

I said, not a good one, but I did do that, yes.

That's She's very humble as well.

@douggarrison321, "If the Mets' 2026 season was a fruit, what would it be?"

Oh, no.

that is a really good question.

It is I think it's, like, a still ripening apple.

Ooh, love the poetry.

I don't think we can call it any kind of exotic fruit yet, because we just don't, we don't know that it's gonna be an outlier.

Like, it could be It could turn into, like, something really good.

It could rot on the vine or, I guess, tree.

But I, I feel like it's, like, a, a midway ripe, like, red-pinkish apple that could be great still, but is, is taking a while- What- to, to materialize, yeah.

I'm not, like, a fruit aficionado, but what is the prickly fruit?

Is it dragon fruit where it's, like, really prickly on the outside- Oh, yeah but super sweet on the inside?

That's what I'm- Oh, yeah.

I don't know that's what I'm getting from this season.

Like- I mean, we could talk mango on the outside it's like, ugh.

Yeah, I was thinking pineapple for that reason.

Like, it looks bad.

Ooh, okay.

But it could also s- be bad, so it could be, like, durian.

Yeah.

I don't know if you know that one.

It, like, smells really bad.

It's a deep cut, but- we can't do that now.

Too early to say.

Did you think this whole time that the prickly fruit that was sweet on the inside that I was referring to was pineapple?

No, no, no, no.

I know what you're talking about.

Okay.

I just don't know what it's called.

But I, I c- pineapple- Okay.

also prickly.

Yeah.

But- It's like, yeah, we call that one pineapple.

Right.

awesome.

Well, Chelsea, I just don't think there's anywhere else to go, from here after that.

So thank you so much for watching this edition of Mets Mailbag.

Like we said before, we're gonna be with you every week of the Mets' 2026 season to answer your questions.

Submit your questions for next week's episode on SNY's Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram account, or drop them in the YouTube comments below this episode.

For Chelsea Janes, I'm Michele Margaux.

Thank you so much, and we'll see you next week.