The Mets announced the their 2025 Player Development Awards on Monday afternoon, and outfielder Carson Benge and right-hander Jonah Tong were among those who earned honors.
Benge, the Mets’ first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, earned Player of the Year honors, while Tong took home the Pitcher of the Year Award.
Benge, 22, has been on a meteoric rise through the farm system, beginning the season with High-A Brooklyn and now playing with Triple-A Syracuse. While Benge is slashing .279/.380/.460 across all three levels this season, he was particularly great with Double-A Binghamton, where he slashed .317/.407/.571 with eight home runs and 23 RBI in 32 games, earning a quick promotion to the Triple-A level.
Benge, who ranks as Joe DeMayo’s No. 3 prospect in the Mets system, is likely to make his big league debut at some point in 2026.
As for Tong, he knows all about a quick ascension through the minors. A seventh-round pick of the Mets in 2022, Tong quickly went from a relatively unknown prospect to a major leaguer. He started the 2024 season with Low-A St. Lucie and was with Binghamton by the end of the year.
Tong’s 2025 minor league numbers are staggering. In 20 starts with Binghamton, Tong posted a 1.59 ERA with 162 strikeouts in 102.0 innings. After two scoreless appearances with Syracuse, Tong was called up to the bigs. While his numbers are skewed by a very rough outing against Texas in his latest start, Tong allowed just one earned run on six hits over 5.0 innings in his major league debut against the Marlins.
Additionally, infielder Elian Peña was named DR Academy Player of the Year and LHP Osiris Calvo was tabbed as the DR Academy Pitcher of the Year. Peña, just 17, hit.292/.421/.528 with nine home runs over 55 games in his first pro season. Calvo, who missed all of 2024 due to injury, pitched to a 2.51 ERA in 11 outings.
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