Right Field Competition Heating Up for Mets

The Mets have a competition for right field this spring with Juan Soto moving to left field. Carson Benge, Mike Tauchman, MJ Melendez and Cristian Pache are all competing for roster spots. Brett Baty and Tyrone Taylor have spots likely secured on the major league roster, but could be factors in right field. At this point in spring, the position is still very much up for grabs, and there are paths where more than one of these players can make the opening day roster.

At his spring training press conference, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said when discussing Carson Benge and the final outfield spot, “We’re not going to get too preoccupied with surface line results one way or the other.” In the end, spring training game slash lines are only a piece of the pie. These players are playing on the backfields, taking hundreds of swings in the cages, and running various other drills in camp. What we see in the games is only a small portion of their “auditions” for the major league roster.

Carson Benge

Carson Benge dominated the minors in 2025. Even at Triple-A, where his results were not there, everything under the hood looked great. He is a plus defender at the position, and has shown to be competitive in at-bats against both left-handed and right-handed pitchers throughout spring. He has displayed his plus hit tool in camp with an 87.1% zone contact rate and 20% whiff rate, and his hardest hit ball so far came in at 110.8 mph. He is currently prospect promotion eligible, but only if he spends 172 days on the major league roster.

Benge has also only taken 248 plate appearances above High-A. At this point in spring training, Benge has yet to take a walk, pull a ball in the air, or barrel up a ball. He has a ground ball rate around 75%. As mentioned, relying solely on results is a bad way to decide who should make a roster, but these are things the Mets would likely prefer to see happen before spring training ends. But Benge is not on the 40-man roster and has until April 9 to retain prospect promotion eligibility. In theory, he could benefit from some extra reps in Triple-A while the Mets get an extended look at someone who cannot be sent to the minors.

Entering Monday, Benge is slashing .350/.381/.350 (.731 OPS) with seven hits (all singles) and one RBI. He did hit a home run in an exhibition game against Team Israel.

Mike Tauchman

Mike Tauchman is coming off a three-year stretch where he hit .255/.359/.381/.740 across 310 games. He put up a 1.4 fWAR in only 93 games with the White Sox in 2025. In his limited sample size this spring, he is pulling the ball at a higher rate and making more contact than in the last three seasons.

Of note, Tauchman can opt out of his minor-league deal if he does not make the Mets’ Opening Day roster.

Tauchman may possess the best eye of all those competing for a spot in right field. He posted a .360 OBP in the last three seasons, and is hitting .364/.533/.909 (1.422 OPS) in 15 plate appearances this spring.

While Tauchman hasn’t played a full MLB season (he played a career high 109 games with the Cubs in 2024), he would have had the second-best OPS on the Mets in 2025 and the best OPS on the 2024 Mets in just 93 games played.

MJ Melendez

A former top prospect who hasn’t connected all the pieces yet, Melendez is likely to start the season in Triple-A Syracuse because he holds a minor league option.

Still, he’s had an impressive spring thus far, hitting .364/.364/1.000 (1.364 OPS) with two home runs and five RBIs in 11 plate appearances. His contact issues remain (31st percentile in xBA in 2024), but he has been much less aggressive at the plate. On pitches in the zone, he has attacked and done damage. He is hitting the ball hard more consistently, and his defense has looked strong in right field.

Unfortunately, he still struggles heavily to make consistent contact with a 65.2% zone-contact rate, and the swing and miss is still incredibly high with a 35.9% whiff rate. While the power metrics are good, they are by no means elite.

Cristian Pache

The most shocking development of spring training belongs to former top prospect Cristian Pache. Since debuting in 2020, he mustered a .181/.243/.275 (.518 OPS) line with six teams, but has looked like a different player in spring with the Mets.

He still has a below-average zone-contact rate at 77.8%, but he is crushing the ball in every game he is in with a 64.3% hard-hit rate. His biggest change this spring is that he is chasing far less than he did any other year. Pache currently leads all Mets with nine hits this spring, and is hitting an absurd .563/.611/.875 (1.486 OPS) through eight games.

While known for his elite defensive metrics, Pache’s bat is causing a ruckus as the right field decision winds down.

Brett Baty

Baty comes off his best season as a big leaguer after posting a 2.3 fWAR in 2025. Unofficially dubbed the new Jeff McNeil thanks to his new superutility role, Baty has taken reps at first base and outfield after playing second base and third base in 2025.

Offensively, he’s picked up right where he left off this spring (.400/.455/.800 (1.255 OPS). Defensively, he’s proving to be a key piece to the Mets. While the team doesn’t necessarily need him to play right field or the outfield at all, they can use him there sparingly if they decide to let Benge develop more in Triple-A Syracuse. The team can also platoon him in the outfield on days he isn’t in the infield or DHing with whoever wins the final outfield spot.

Baty’s spot on the rotation isn’t in question — the question is how the Mets choose to utilize him. He’s played only one inning in the outfield in his big league career (2023) and will join the likes of Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco in learning a new position.

Tyrone Taylor

Like Baty, Taylor’s position on the Opening Day roster seems like a lock. Although he’s coming off his worst offensive year (.223/.279/.319 (.598 OPS), he’s always been a defensive-first player.

Taylor will likely see time in 2026 as a platoon player, the fourth outfielder, and would enter games as a defensive replacement. He acts as one of the fastest runners on the team (29.3 ft/sec sprint speed), and will be a key asset for the 2026 team.

While he had a year to forget at the plate in 2025, he seems to be making strides in 2026. His hardest-hit ball of spring was 108.3 mph, a full five mph faster than anything he hit in 2025. He’s pulling the ball and lifting it more in spring than he did in 2025. This spring, he’s hitting .267/.294/.733 (1.027 OPS).

The post Right Field Competition Heating Up for Mets appeared first on Metsmerized Online.