Thursday, September 24

Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 17 seasons full-time on the beat.

SEATTLE -- In A.J. Ewing’s recollection, the Mets’ psychopathic brotherhood officially formed last Saturday at Citi Field, when Carson Benge robbed Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers of an extra-base hit, ran into the right-center-field fence, and splayed out on the warning track. As all three outfielders jogged back to the dugout together, Ewing turned to Juan Soto and said, “Yo, that was psycho.” 

A day later, Soto made the pronouncement public, noting that Ewing and Benge “call each other ‘psychopath’” for their defensive exploits. 

“I’m like, ‘Yeah, you are,’” Soto quipped. 

In the eyes of both rookies, it’s the most flattering of epithets. A psychopathic outfielder is one who plays with a sort of controlled recklessness, sprinting, diving and, yes, crashing into fences from time to time. 

“I feel like it’s just trying to make every play, whether that be running through a wall or standing easily,” Benge said. “Either way, I just want to make every play and not really care too much what happens to my body.” 

So far, the defensive chops that both players displayed as top prospects in the Minors have clearly shown up at the highest level. Entering Wednesday’s play, Benge and Ewing were two of only three healthy Mets regulars featuring a positive outs above average total. (Catcher Luis Torrens was the other.) 

It’s easy to see how they shine in that metric. Since his Opening Day callup, Benge has made the extraordinary seem routine, including his grab of Stowers’ fly ball last weekend. Ewing has largely done the same, most recently diving to rob both Cole Young and J.P. Crawford of hits on Monday, and crashing into the Citi Field fence following a catch on Sunday. (After that one, longtime Mets play-by-play man Howie Rose compared Ewing’s outfield play to that of Lenny Dykstra.) 

“I take a lot of pride in being able to play that way, just because I know there’s value in everything you do on the baseball field,” Ewing said. “Whether that’s in the box, on defense, running the bases, you’ve got to bring it all 100 percent of the time.” 

So who’s more psycho? 

“Depends on the day,” Benge said.
 
“It depends on what you’re talking about, too,” Ewing piped in, turning to his friend and teammate. “I would say in real-life scenarios, you’ve probably got the nod on that.” 

Real-life scenarios? Pressed for an example, Ewing flashed a devilish look, grinned and shook his head. 

In baseball scenarios, both players agreed, Ewing may be the crazier one due to his propensity for running into fences … not just during games, but before them, too. Prior to Monday’s series opener in Seattle, Ewing was shagging flies in the outfield when Bo Bichette hit one deep over his head. Rather than let the meaningless ball go, as most players would, Ewing sprinted backward, caught it and crashed into the fence. His cap and sunglasses went flying. 

“Bo hit the ball, I was like, ‘I need this one,’” Ewing said. “I don’t know why.” 

Spoken like the true outfield psychopath that he is. 

Who has the most combined bWAR for the Mets and Padres? 

A) Adrián González 
B) Dave Magadan 
C) Kevin McReynolds 
D) Mike Piazza 

Given their poor start to the season, it’s no surprise that the Mets don’t exactly have a wealth of All-Star candidates. But they do have nine players on Major League Baseball’s official ballot, which the league released Wednesday. And they have one very likely All-Star in Soto, who entered play Wednesday with 13 homers in 44 games. 

Soto is vying for his fifth career All-Star nod but his first with the Mets, after missing out last season due to a slow start at the plate. 

The All-Star voting process features two phases of fan voting to determine starters. Phase 1 is open now, allowing fans to cast up to five ballots each day at MLB.com/vote or on the MLB or MLB Ballpark apps. The top two vote-getters at each position will advance to Phase 2, which runs from June 29-July 2. As usual, fans will only determine the position-player starters for each team, not the pitchers. 

Aside from Soto, Mets on this year’s All-Star ballot include Francisco Alvarez, Mark Vientos, Marcus Semien, Bichette, Francisco Lindor, Benge, Luis Robert Jr. and Jorge Polanco. 

As previewed in this space last week, Semien recently co-hosted a charity poker tournament at Citi Field alongside celebrity Mets fan Hank Azaria. The veteran infielder drew a crowd to his event, including teammates Bichette, A.J. Minter, Austin Warren, Jared Young and Eric Wagaman, as well as actors Lou Diamond Phillips and Oliver Platt. 

The event benefited a trio of causes: Azaria’s 4 Through 9 Foundation, which addresses societal challenges relating to education, social justice, the environment, and physical and mental wellness; Pitch In for Baseball and Softball, which provides sports equipment directly to leagues, schools and organizations around the world; and City Harvest, New York City’s first and largest food rescue organization. 

• At the time of this writing, the Mets are no longer on pace to break the 1943 Red Sox’s record of 31 extra-inning games in a season. They’re only on pace to match it. Monday night, we took a look at that crazy statistic and the toll it’s taken on the Mets. 

• Alvarez has suffered plenty of injuries throughout his young career, but his ability to return quickly from them is otherworldly. The Mets' catcher began a rehab assignment just 2 1/2 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn right meniscus. He could beat his initial projected timetable by a month. 

• Earlier this week, the Mets optioned Jonah Tong back to Triple-A Syracuse. They’ll roll with a four-man rotation for now. 

C) McReynolds

McReynolds, who played for the Padres for four seasons before coming to New York in an eight-player trade and spending six years with the Mets, compiled 28.2 bWAR between the two franchises. That edged Piazza, who accumulated 27.6 bWAR for those teams (the vast majority of it with the Mets). 

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