Carson Benge, OF, Mets: The Mets announced Monday that the 23-year-old right fielder will make the club's Opening Day roster. The rookie will be making his MLB debut and will be on track to add Prospect Promotion Incentive eligibility if he remains in the big leagues all season.

The Mets made no effort to block Benge from winning a big league job this offseason, despite him having no MLB experience and just 24 games at Triple-A. This spring, he batted .366/.435/.439 through 14 games, notching one double, one triple, one stolen base, four walks and nine strikeouts.

Drafted 19th overall out of Oklahoma State in 2024, Benge opened his first full season at High-A Brooklyn last year before advancing to Double-A Binghamton and then Triple-A Syracuse. At all levels combined, he hit .281/.385/.472 with 15 homers and 22 steals in 116 games.

Benge was teammates at OSU with Nolan McLean, who also will be a rookie on the 2026 Mets. The two were college teammates and also former two-way players.

You can track where every Top 100 Prospect will open the 2026 season here.

JJ Wetherholt, 2B, Cardinals: Wetherholt will be the Cardinals' second baseman on Opening Day, the club announced. The 23-year-old seized the job after St. Louis traded infielders Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan in the offseason. Wetherholt will be making his MLB debut and will be on track to earn Prospect Promotion Incentive eligibility if he remains in the big leagues all season.

In 15 Grapefruit League games, Wetherholt batted .212/.386/.394 with two home runs and two stolen bases. He drew nine walks against seven strikeouts.

St. Louis drafted Wetherholt out of West Virginia with the seventh pick in the 2024 draft. Last year, in his first full pro season, he batted .306/.421/.510 between stops at Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. He hit 17 homers and stole 23 bases in 109 games.

Connelly Early, LHP, Red Sox: Two top Red Sox lefthanders made their MLB debuts last summer. Both pitched for Boston in the postseason, and both came to spring training this year with a chance to make the Opening Day roster.

Early achieved that goal, while Payton Tolle will begin the year at Triple-A. Early made the club as a long reliever or piggyback starter, at least initially. He threw 17 innings in the Grapefruit League, striking out 16 and walking five, while allowing four runs on 11 hits.

Tolle pitched well, too, recording a 2.53 ERA and 0.84 WHIP with 13 strikeouts in 10.2 innings.

Carter Baumler, RHP, Rangers: Baumler made eight relief appearances for the Rangers this spring as he tried to make the team as a Rule 5 pick. Mission accomplished. Texas manager Skip Schumaker delivered the news during a mound visit in Monday's Cactus League game against the Royals.

Baumler did not allow an earned run this spring, striking out 10 and walking two in 9.1 innings. The Orioles originally drafted Baumler in the fifth round of the shortened 2020 draft out of high school in Iowa. He reached Double-A as a reliever in Baltimore's system last year.

Spencer Jones, OF, Yankees: Jones connected for two home runs in a Grapefruit League game against the Cubs on Monday. The center fielder went 2-for-2 in the game, hitting a solo homer off Phil Maton in the seventh inning and a two-run blast off Jacob Webb in the ninth.

Jones has connected for six homers in 12 games this spring, going 10-for-26 (.385) with four walks and eight strikeouts. While he didn't make the Opening Day roster, the 2022 first-rounder is a 40-man roster member who could be called up this season.

Editor’s Picks

Who Will Be MLB’s Next Top Pitching Prospect? As Opening Day nears, Mets righthander Nolan McLean reigns as the top pitcher in Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list. However, he won’t wear that crown for long. McLean needs just 2.1 innings or seven days of active service time to graduate from prospect qualification. Likely, that means his first start of the season will be his last day on the Top 100. 

Beyond McLean, there's a crop of top pitching prospects who will soon be ticketed for MLB. Blue Jays righty Trey Yesavage will have to wait a little longer after a shoulder impingement suffered in the waning days of spring training, while Pirates flamethrower Bubba Chandler will likely graduate in the season’s first month. The same goes for the Phillies’ Andrew Painter, who is slated to open the year in the big league rotation. 

Before long, those exits will make way for a new wave of arm talent to take their place as the game’s top pitching prospects. So, who will wear the crown as the spring turns into summer? BA’s prospect team makes the case for some intriguing pitchers who could fit the bill. 

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

Joseph Dzierwa, LHP, Orioles: Dzierwa had quite the showing in this year’s Spring Breakout game. The Orioles’ 2025 second-round pick out of Michigan State pitched the final three innings, allowing one hit and striking out eight of the ten batters he faced. Dzierwa sat 94-95 mph on his fastball, generating seven whiffs against the pitch. He flashed his signature changeup and mixed in a couple of sliders. Dzierwa looks like a name to follow in 2026.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Chase DeLauter thumped two more homers yesterday. The 24-year-old Guardians outfielder is hitting .459 with a 1.373 OPS over 37 spring at-bats.

• Cubs 2025 first-rounder Ethan Conrad is expected to miss at least the first month of the season with a lower back injury, according to MLB.com. Conrad’s junior spring at Wake Forest was shortened by a left shoulder injury.

• Brewers RHP Brandon Sproat will open the season in the big league rotation.

• Pirates LHP Hunter Barco, the team’s No. 9 prospect, made the big league roster.

• Padres power bat Kale Fountain went deep yesterday. Geoff Pontes tabbed him as a breakout pick entering 2026.

• Yankees RHP Carlos Lagrange enjoyed a scintillating spring. That is, until Monday. The flamethrower was tagged for nine hits, eight runs and two homers over 2.2 innings in a start against the Cubs.

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