Tom Brennan - Clifford; Benge; Alvarez; Easier Fences Are For Sissies; Don’t Blame Megill

FUNNY, THAT BENGE FELLA DOESN’T LOOK LIKE TED WILLIAMS

CARSON BENGE - WHAT A DRAFT STEAL!

You can say that when his first full season is in High A (so far), and he is raking at .321/.448/.543 after a slow .200 start in (yes) cold weather.

In his last 4 weeks, the lefty hitter in “so-hard-for-lefties” Brooklyn has gone 36 for 95 (.379) with an astonishing 24 walks in a 26 game stretch. 

Sixty times on base via walk or hit in 26 games. A .500+ OBP in that stretch. 

That’s Ted Williams stuff.  

Can you think of another Mets prospect that was ever that hot? 

I can think of just one.  (Almost 2).

Ken Singleton, one year in AAA, who “Ted William’d it” at .388/.513/.703 in a 64 game stretch in AAA in 1970 call-up season, but it was in his 4th (and last) minor league season, not his first full season, which is where Benge is at.  That is it for comps in my mind.  

(As an aside, Mets fans rightfully loved Rusty Staub, but giving up Singleton was too much. Would they have won the 1973 WS with Singleton instead? That year, Ken was .302/.425/.479, with 103 RBIs and 100 runs scored).

2nd, David Wright was close in 2004 in AAA. .363/.467/.619 in 60 games.

I don’t want to set expectations too high for Benge. I only want Ted Williams.

Ryan Clifford - A Bit of a Deeper Dive

RC was born in North Carolina.  Before he was traded to the Mets in 2023, he played A and High A in...North Carolina.  

Asheville in High A in particular is a warmer weather, hitter-friendly park.

Post-trade, Clifford went to blustery Brooklyn - same league as Asheville, but brutal on lefty hitters - and struggled mightily in late 2023.  

Then, he struggled in cold, hitter-unfriendly Brooklyn in the first few months of 2024.  

VERY little power production from him in lefty-hating Cyclone Park.

He hit much better in warmed-up Binghamton later in 2024, with Moribito Park being at least close to hitter-neutral in warmer weather.  His one HR in Brooklyn in 2024 was surpassed by his 18 HRs for Binghamton post-promotion.

This year, in 2025, in frigid Binghamton, he hit .200 in April. It was COLD, dawg.

In May, though, as temperatures ameliorated, he was .253/.333/.453. Not great, but better.

Clifford walks a lot, and fans a lot.  He's young and in a learning phase, but the Ks need to come down, and if that means the walks come down, too, so be it.

Keep in mind he is still 21, but if he wants to to be a viable alternative to replace Pete Alonso at first base in 2026, he will have to start to quickly demonstrate he is a much better offensive hitter than he's been as a Mets property, regardless of wind and chill impediments.  

Why?  Because unless Uncle Steve moves in the Citi Field fences, Queens can be cold and hitter-unfriendly at times, so I advise Ryan Clifford to do 3 things: 

1) Hit more, 2) Take fewer pitches and walk less, and 3) Fan less.  

A fourth is uncomfortable, but it is to increase HBPs to increase OBP.  Clifford has not been hit once by a pitch this year through Friday, and just 7 times last year.  Alonso has been hit 18 times over the same period and 90 times already as a Met.  Mark Canha (140 times), Starling Marte (164 times in his career), and Brandon Nimmo (81 times) are 3 more examples of former and current Mets hitters who have expanded their career OBP via HBP.  

It hurts, sure, but helps OBP.   It particularly has helped Canha remain in the major leagues over 11 seasons now, with roughly 4000 plate appearances.  The goal? Get to the majors, stay in the majors.

The hitting by Brooklyn’s top several hitters this year is explosive, so he will have competition for future MLB position jobs from those sluggers.

Side question…if you could pick just one, would it be Ryan Ammons, RyanLambert, or Ryan Clifford?

FORMER METS PROSPECT PETE CROW ARMSTRONG IS KILLING IT

With the Cubs, 53 games, 41 runs, 48 RBIs, .286, .576 slug, 14 steals, and the best CF play defensively of anyone in the game.  Just turned 23.  And 10 of his 14 HRs are outside of Wrigley, so it is not Wrigley boosted stats. 30 extra base hits.

Imagine the Mets with THAT in CF.

You still like that Javy Baez trade? 

Come on, be honest, because if you do, I want to suggest psychiatric help.

FENCES ARE JUST FINE AS IS -SO DROP THE SUBJECT!!

On Saturday night, Baty and Soto each barely missed a grand slam and 3 run HR, respectively. Two shots high off the “a little too deep” wall. 

But yes, the fences are fine. Don’t move them an inch. Perfection.  

You WANT your superstar to have suppressed stats so he can look quite ordinary, I get it. I really do. Humble him. Disappoint the fans. Makes total sense.

Don’t you dare, then, to move the fences in. The appearance of the superstar your fans salivated for, as a struggling hitter, which leads fans to question the intense star’s intensity, is a Mets badge of honor.

Also, on Saturday, Soto hit another bullet, 400 feet to center…caught. Naturally.

Perfect. Just perfect. After all, you won 2 of 3 from LAD, right? 

So if Soto is hitting .236 through Sunday, with a third of the season over, why kvetch?

Mets on Monday? Win 2-1, after being dominated by Adrian “Maddux” Houser for 6 innings. Gritty, late inning, low scoring win. Third straight win.

KEEP THE KRYPTONITE AWAY FROM FRANCISCO ALVAREZ

Do you remember Francisco Alvarez when he was launching intercontinental ballistic bombs in the minors and then again he first made the Mets?  

His rookie year, 25 HRs in 382 at bats?  

Yeah, that guy.

This year, up 78 times through Saturday: 

TWO DOUBLES AND ONE HOME RUN?  

1) What have the Mets experts done with Missile Launcher Alvarez to dismantle him?  

2) Or is it just the hamate bone surgery? 

3) The Park?

All Three?

Whatever it is, when one looks at the Mets having 54 homers and the Yanks 32 more with 86 dingers, two big reasons:  

Citi Field steals many homers, and if you watch, you see that.

And Francisco Alvarez, who used to be built like the Thing in Fantastic Four, and scream out, "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!" is now hitting like twiggy slap hitter Bud Harrelson.

Am I being harsh?

Thru Saturday, Alvarez? .232/.321/.304.  

Bud Harrelson, career? .236/.327/.288.

That reminds me of the line in My Cousin Vinny, where the prosecutor and a car expert were comparing the tire tracks at the murder scene to see if they were from the same tire as the ones on the car that Vinny’s nephew and friend were driving.

The prosecutor's answer? 

"IDENTICAL!"

Bud and Francisco are virtually IDENTICAL!

I'd rather Alvarez would be identical to Pete Alonso. The man formerly known as Peter always manages to keep his power numbers up, despite the unfriendly Citi dimensions, which have cost him many a HR in his Mets career.

Moving on…

THE METS MARGIN OF ERROR IS TOUGH FOR A STARTING PITCHER

- ESPECIALLY IF HIS LAST NAME IS MEGILL (FIRST NAME: TYLOR)

Look no further than the consecutive Cy Young’s for Jake deGrom with the Mets while only going a ludicrous 21-17 over those two seasons.  He had zero margin for error. 

If his ERA in those 2 seasons was not 2.10, but was 3.75, he probably would have been 13-30 instead.  He was only as good as 21-17 because he was one of the team’s best hitters in his starts. No joke. He hit nearly .200 and drove in 11 runs in those two seasons.

Let me also put it this way: 

If the Mets scored like the Cubs, as in 90 more runs scored in the first 53 games, no one would be nitpicking Tylor Megill. 

He’d be 6-3. Or 7-3. Take your pick.

He’s been a beast in most outings, but one who frequently/consistently lacks run support while he is in games.  

He gave up 8 runs in 7.1 IP against the Cubs and Yanks, the two most potent run-scoring teams in baseball. The third of the 3 times he gave up 4 earned runs, it was against the Cardinals, the 8th highest scoring team in baseball right now. On average, then, those 3 teams are 3rd best in scoring, compositely.  Teams that bash like those 3 are tough for an opposing starter to handle. 

Remember Tom Seaver? “The Franchise” was a mere 12-20 vs. the Big Red Machine. In 134 career no decisions, much of it pitching for substandard Mets offensive squads, Seaver was 3.49, while in his 205 losses, his ERA was a still-respectable 4.92, while almost never facing the weak hitting Mets, against whom he had a 2.28 ERA in 11 starts. Seaver also had 85 RBIs and 45 career extra base hits to help his cause).

But 270 game winning Hall of Famer Mike Mussina, who always pitched for hitting juggernauts, lost 153 games with a 6.89 ERA, two runs higher in his losses than Seaver.  

AND Mike never had the arduous task of facing the highly potent hitters of his own teams. (He also, for many years, had win-saver Mariano Rivera).

Jerry Koosman was 11-35, 3.63 in 1977 and 1978 pitching for Mets teams that stunk offensively.if he pitched for the Reds, he probably would have been 35-11.

Back to Megill. 

His ERA against everyone else other than those 3 top 8 hitting squads through Sunday is below 3.00. 

To his credit, he killed the potent Phillies in April, with 5 scoreless and 10 Ks. He dominated into the 7th in the following start vs. the Nats, in a game where the Mets scored 5 in the first, and then the often somnolent Mets bats hit the snooze button, scoring just 2 runs over the last 8 innings, while Butto and Stanek coughed up Megill’s win with lousy relief.  

His last start, 4.2 innings, 1 run vs. the Red Sox, 10 Ks, he was pulled because in the first 5 innings, the Mets scored one lousy run. What if they led 6-1? He probably goes 6 innings, and gets the W.

Remember this: 

Megill doesn’t hit poorly when he starts. 

The Mets’ hitters do that “hit poorly” stuff very well all by themselves. 

Just like they did for Jake…and Harvey…and Seaver…and Koosman.

REPEAT AFTER ME…

IT IS NOT MEGILL, IT IS THE METS HITTERS THAT ARE TO BE BLAMED.

Blame the park dimensions, too, if you’d like.