The Mets turned to A.J. Ewing on Tuesday and sent him straight into the middle of their latest center-field shuffle, calling him up from Triple-A with a plan to play the position every day. The move comes after Tyrone Taylor and Carson Benge split the starts in center field for two weeks once Luis Robert Jr. went on the injured list with a herniated disk on April 30.
That alone tells the story of a team still searching for stability in a spot that has changed hands all season. Mets center fielders have combined for 98 weighted runs created plus, a mark that ranks 12th best in the majors, but the club has already used six different players there in 2025.
The problems did not begin with Robert. They predated him, and they were ugly enough that the Mets acquired him from the Chicago White Sox after dreadful production in center field last season. Even with the upgrade on paper, the group has remained a moving target, with Taylor and Benge sharing the job while Robert recovered and Ewing now being asked to take the next turn.
That is the tension inside the position: the Mets have moved from one short-term answer to the next without finding a player who has locked it down. Taylor has been part of that rotation, and now the burden shifts again to Ewing, whose call-up says as much about the club’s injuries and underperformance as it does about his own arrival.
For now, the Mets are treating center field as a daily assignment rather than a settled job. With Robert sidelined and the team still sorting through the fallout, Ewing gets the first crack at making the position his own.
