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Mets beat Nationals in Spring Breakout game behind home runs from top prospects Ryan Clifford, Boston Baro

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Mets beat Nationals in Spring Breakout game behind home runs from top prospects Ryan Clifford, Boston Baro

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Ryan Clifford hit a mammoth home run, Boston Baro added an opposite-field blast and Jonah Tong threw two scoreless innings Sunday evening as the Mets beat the Nationals, 5-1, in their Spring Breakout game at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.

Nick Morabito added a two-run single for the Mets.

The Spring Breakout is a chance for teams to show off some of their top prospects and an opportunity for the players to showcase their skills against other highly-touted players. It went very well for the Mets.

Here are the main takeaways:

  • Tong, one of the Mets’ top pitching prospects, started the game and was mostly sharp, allowing no runs and one hit in two innings. He struck out three and walked two. Tong, who has the best fastball in the organization, according to Baseball America, pitched at three levels last season, reaching Double-A.
  • The Mets also got scoreless work from Jonathan Pintaro (two innings). Dylan Ross, who showcased nifty breaking stuff, and Jonathan Santucci threw one scoreless frame each. Ryan Lambert, who can hit triple digits, allowed a run in the seventh inning.
  • In the third inning, Baro, a 20-year-old infielder drafted in the eighth round in 2023, smacked a solo home run on a 3-0 pitch. It was an opposite-field shot for Baro, a left-handed hitter. Baro also singled and scored in the fourth. The homer came off Washington’s sixth-ranked prospect, Alex Clemmey, a lefty who struck out six over three innings in the game. Last year, Baro slugged four homers at St. Lucie before being promoted to High-A Brooklyn and had a .748 OPS over the two stops.
  • The Mets added two more runs in the fourth inning after loading the bases with two out. Morabito got ahead in the count, 3-0, and then believed the next pitch was ball four. He was so sure that he even tossed his bat away. But the umpire called it a strike. Morabito fouled off a pitch and then hit a single into short right-center field that plated two runs. Morabito, a second-round pick in the 2022 draft, batted .312 last season with 59 steals over two Class A stops and was named the organization’s minor-league player of the year.
  • One of the more impressive facets of Jett Williams’ skill set was on display in the first inning after he reached base on a fielder’s choice when his popup dropped untouched. Williams, the Mets’ top position-player prospect, took off for second with Clifford at the plate and was easily safe. Get used to seeing stolen bases from Williams, who has 56 steals in 66 tries (84.8%) in his minor-league career.
  • Kevin Parada, the 11th overall pick in the 2022 draft, was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Parada batted .214 with 13 home runs in 115 games at Binghamton last year.

GAME MVP

Clifford, mostly because his fifth-inning home run was the most impressive moment of the game. Clifford, whose prospect calling card is power, smashed a 2-2 pitch over the center-field wall, which is 406 feet from home plate. The ball landed at least halfway up a grass berm well beyond the wall. Clifford, a 21-year-old first baseman/outfielder, hit 19 homers last season over two stops, including 18 at Double-A Binghamton

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