Three Mets, Three Gold Glove Finalists: Torrens, McLean and Benge Earn Their Gloves' Worth

It was a rough 74-88 summer in Queens, and Mets fans have earned the right to hunt for good news wherever it hides. Here is some: three Mets are finalists for a 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove. Luis Torrens at catcher, Nolan McLean on the mound and Carson Benge in right field each made the National League cut, and honestly, each one tells a different story about what this club can build on.

Start with Torrens, because catching defense is the part of baseball that rarely gets a parade. Framing, blocking, throwing, game-calling, absorbing foul tips off the mask: it all happens behind the plate while the crowd watches the pitcher. The run-saving numbers have liked Torrens this year, placing him among the better defensive catchers in the sport. Pitchers trust him, and that matters more than any spreadsheet. When a staff is trying to survive a long season, a backstop who steals strikes and keeps the ball in front of him is quietly worth a lot of wins.

Then there is Nolan McLean, which is a sentence Mets fans would have loved to write a few years ago. A pitcher up for a Gold Glove is a reminder that the job does not end when the ball leaves your hand. Fielding bunts, covering first, holding runners and making the routine play routine all count. McLean is a young arm with the stuff to headline a rotation, and being a finalist suggests the whole package is coming together. The pitching group is going to be the heart of this winter's conversation, so any sign that a young starter is polished, not just talented, is welcome.

And now the fun one: Carson Benge. After the rookie season that gave him a place in franchise history, a Gold Glove nod in right field feels like the exclamation point. The case for him is the arm. He piled up double-digit outfield assists, and Statcast graded his throwing arm among the most valuable in the game, with an average arm strength that sat near the very top of the league. Runners looked at that right field wall this year and decided, over and over, that staying put was the smarter option. Every assist is a rally erased, and a fear factor like that changes how the other team plays.

Why does this matter beyond the trophy? Because a team that wants to climb does not just add bats and arms in free agency. It keeps the leather sharp too. Three finalists at three very different spots, catcher, pitcher and outfield, show that the foundation of a good defensive club is already here. That is a young core with real skills, and cheap, controllable defensive value is exactly what lets a front office spend its big dollars elsewhere.

It also frames a fair question for the offseason. If the defense up the middle and in right is in good shape, the biggest holes are clearer. Run prevention is already trending the right way, which puts even more pressure on the lineup to turn the page after a disappointing year at the plate. Good gloves buy you time, but they do not win games by themselves.

Now, should we expect all three to win? Be careful. Gold Glove races are crowded, the NL has plenty of strong defenders, and voting mixes manager and coach ballots with a sabermetric component. Plenty of deserving players walk away empty-handed every year, and being a finalist is already an honor. The winners are set to be revealed on ESPN on Sunday, November 1, so mark your calendar.

Whatever happens that night, take the win. In a season that stung, three Mets proved they were among the best at their craft, and each one is young enough that this could be the first of many. Torrens, McLean and Benge, congratulations from all of us at MetsXMFanZone. Go get that hardware, and let's go Mets.