The Mets No. 2 and No. 3 prospects played in the annual showcase on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.
While the Mets clinched a series win in Kansas City on Saturday afternoon, a pair of the organization’s top prospects — RHP Jonah Tong and OF Carson Benge — helped secure a victory in Atlanta for the National League at the Futures Game.
Tong, currently boasting a stellar 1.83 ERA with 125 K in 78.2 IP at Double-A Binghamton, tossed a 1-2-3 second inning with one strikeout. The 22-year-old averaged 96.1 mph on his four-seam fastball, throwing eight of nine for strikes; but he turned more heads with his devastating 12-6 curveball, using it to strike out Mariners prospect Harry Ford swinging to start the inning. The MLB Network broadcast booth was quick to reference Tim Lincecum, as Tong’s extreme over-the-top delivery has drawn comparisons to that of the two-time Cy Young winner. A former 7th-round pick in 2022, Tong is now listed as MLB.com’s No. 59 prospect in the game, making him one of just three Top 100 prospects drafted later than the fifth round.
Benge, a first-round draft pick just a summer ago, has already hit his way to Binghamton, where he’s batting .302 with a pair of homers in thirteen games. Entering the Futures Game in left field in the fifth inning, Benge was immediately greeted with a line drive over his head off the bat of Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr. In Benge’s only at-bat, he flew out to left field in a lefty-lefty matchup against the Royals’ Frank Mozzicato.
The long list of homegrown Mets to play in the annual showcase since its inception in 1999 includes names like David Wright, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, and José Reyes, who was named Futures Game MVP back in 2002.