Carson Benge, OF, NYM
We are all on a Benge binge right now.
Carson Benge entered the season as the Mets’ number-one ranked prospect, lauded for his potential in the field, at the plate, and on the basepaths. Like most youngsters, he was a bit slow to get started in 2026. Granted, that seems to be the case for the entire Mets squad. Since the end of April, he’s been at least an above-average hitter every month. Since the All-Star break, he’s hitting .333/.385/.512 which is good for a wRC+ of 148. Oh yeah, and in terms of August, he has a wRC+ of 179. Everything is cooking right now for Benge, but is it legit?
It certainly looks that way. Benge is kind of a jack-of-all-trades type, as he doesn’t strike out too much, hits the ball fairly hard, and is on track to steal his 20th base soon. He hits the ball off the sweet spot of the bat often, and is good at hitting it all over the field. He has solid numbers against both lefties and righties, and because of all of this, he hits at the heart of the order. The main criticism that can be had of Benge is that he doesn’t walk often. This is something that perhaps he will develop over time, though, as he will have more experience with Major League pitching and will find it easier to read where pitches are going. He had double-digit walk rates in the Minor Leagues in both 2024 and 2025, so it’s not unfair to expect it to increase a bit in future campaigns.
Carson Benge’s Process+ visualized
Verdict: Legit. Benge is such a toolsy player, and that will allow him to be a long-term impact player in MLB. He has shown incredible power, solid contact skills, and heads-up baserunning in the Majors thus far, and he probably should finish with at least a 20-20 season. He’s a bright spot for the Mets and is an absolute must-roster, and it feels like his floor is higher than a lot of similar young players, including…
Spencer Jones, OF, NYY
Spencer Jones, over the past few years, has been one of the more polarizing prospects in the sport, partially because of his status as a Yankee but also for his boom-or-bust profile. Now, he looks to be settling in as a potential long-term piece for the Yankees, and he’s looked great overall despite some stretches of inconsistency.
What makes Jones so valuable, both in real life and in fantasy, is his combination of power and speed. He’s the kind of player managers salivate over adding, as a home run helps in four offensive categories in a standard 5×5 league AND he has the stolen bases component covered as well. When you break down his power, it makes sense why he can hit the ball out of the park often. He has an average bat speed of 77.5 mph, which, if he were qualified, would place him ranked at 5th among all qualified batters, only behind Junior Caminero, Jordan Walker, Nick Kurtz, and Cam Smith. What makes Jones so enticing too is that he doesn’t just pound the ball into the ground; he hits it off the sweet spot of the bat often, which leads to extra bases. Many young power hitters have groundball issues early on (Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Junior Caminero), but it’s so far, so good with Jones.
The one concern with Jones, though, persists: his strikeout rate. This rate was really high in the Minor Leagues, as he was even up to a near-37% K rate in AA in 2024, despite posting a wRC+ of 128 in that campaign. Currently, he has a 35% strikeout rate, and he has one of the higher whiff rates in the Majors. He has particularly struggled with offspeed pitches, whiffing on 55.3% of the ones he’s swung at.
Spencer Jones’s Process+ visualized
Verdict: Possibly legit. Jones has unreal power and can steal bases with the best of them. Unfortunately, his tendency to swing-and-miss both caps his ceiling and lowers his floor. There are a lot of similarities between him and the recently called-up Joshua Baez, and with both, some patience will be needed. Still, we’ve seen what Jones can do now, and there’s no reason to doubt that the home run potential won’t stick with him.
Reid Detmers, SP, LAA
Is the Reid Detmers breakout finally here? One could argue it was 2025, though he put up his solid numbers last season coming out of the bullpen. Some could also argue that his no-hitter was the breakout, but he struggled quite a bit after that and was even sent down at one point.
While the ERA is lower this season than any previous one, it’s the drop in WHIP that is most impressive. He had previously never had a WHIP below 1.20 in a season. In 2026, it sits at 1.06. This is, of course, the result of both a decreased walk rate and a lowered hits-per-nine.
Reid Detmers’s PLV arsenal analysis
Verdict: Mostly legit.
