Carson Benge: The Best Hitter In Minor League Baseball
A Blog By Tobey
A little over a year ago, the New York Mets took Oklahoma State product Carson Benge with their 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. Ranked as MLB Pipeline’s 18th best prospect in the 2024 draft, this was a solid get from the jump for the Mets as Benge was graded with plus-tools nearly across the board.
He’d have a solid start to his pro career in Low-A, where he hit for an .857 OPS with 15 hits in 15 games. In 2025, he’s put up incredible production across two levels, and right now might just be the best hitter in all of minor league baseball.
Between High-A and Double-A, Benge has put together a season to remember for the Mets farm system. Their No. 4 prospect among hitters with a minimum of 300 AB’s this season has the highest wRC+ at 185. The highest by 26 points, with the second being owned by the top prospect in baseball: Pirates’ Konnor Griffin.
He’s slashing .323/.430/.538 in 86 games, showing more than his 50 grade power gives him credit for with 12 HR. He’s paired those 12 homers with 19 stolen bases, and great plate discipline with a 14.7% BB%, and a 16.5% K%.
The disciplined approach this season is not surprising. In 2024, he showed a very solid advanced profile plate-discipline wise at the Low-A level, with a 17.2% Whiff rate. He kept the K% well below 20% in that time as well.
Profile/Data - ProspectSavant.com
Now in 2025 he’s completely put together everything at the plate, adding some additional power to his plus hit tool. While ranked as the 98th best prospect on Baseball America and the 68th on MLBPipeline, let’s see how Benge stacks up against the best of minor league hitters.
Carson Benge’s 2025 Ranks Among MiLB Hitters (Min. 300 AB)
wRC+: 185 (1st)
OPS: .969 (2nd)
AVG: .323 (8th)
wOBA: .443 (1st)
ISO: .215 (28th)
With just 50 grade power on MLB Pipeline, Benge has been a near Top 25 power hitter in all of MiLB.
As previously mentioned, his wRC+ is the highest in all of MiLB at the moment. It surpasses Konnor Griffin, Max Clark, Jett Williams, Eduardo Quintero, and many other notable prospects that have been known as the best hitters this season. Some even being some of the highest ranked prospects in the sport.
Data: FanGraphs.com
He’s done everything at the plate this year. He has 22 doubles to his 12 homers, with 6 triples as well. His plus speed allows him to be a threat on the bases, and if the power continues to grow, he could easily project to be a 20/20 guy at the major league level.
If he can keep his disciplined bat he can become a staple in the Mets outfield. With a 7.6% SwStr%, and a 27.3 CSW% across those two levels in 2025, he shows all the potential to be a disciplined hitter at the highest level. On top of the plate discipline, Benge this season has gone the other way with the baseball slightly more than he pulls it.
When looking at his 2025 splits, he’s absolutely crushed RHP. He’s recorded a 1.029 OPS against RHP, and against LHP managed a .779 OPS, with more walks than strikeouts. Nowhere near a liability against LHP, but a wide majority of his XBH production has come versus the right side.
His splits when he’s needed the most at the plate are very encouraging as well. With runners in scoring position, Benge hits .364 with a 1.034 OPS. With runners at second and third, the OPS jumps to 1.369. In late and close games, Benge hits nearly .400 with an OPS at 1.167. With two outs, Benge has a .411 OBP. A hitter you can rely on to deliver for your lineup and pitchers.
If he can start pulling the ball with more pop then Benge’s ceiling can be extremely high. However even now, Benge’s elite hit tool with his highly praised bat-to-ball skills have helped him put up the production in 2025 that has made him the best hitter in minor league baseball.