Brett Baty/Photo by Allen Greene Photography

The New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 8-4 in eight innings on Thursday afternoon. Most of the Mets’ projected 26-man roster got the majority of the playing time since the exhibition game was at home, but a couple of prospects made an impact late in the game.

Jake Hager has received consistent playing time off the bench at second base, but he shifted over to first to replace Pete Alonso, who hit a grand slam to give New York a 5-4 lead. With a runner on base, Hager homered just over the left field wall off of Jacob Condra-Bogan in the seventh inning for his first home run of the spring.

Hager, 28, obviously isn’t going to be seeing the big leagues on April 1 due to the plethora of options that manager Luis Rojas has at the major league level, but he is still someone to keep an eye on early in camp.

Brett Baty was only drafted two years ago as the Mets’ first-round pick but he is playing like he has five years of experience under his belt. He sliced a double in the left-center gap on Wednesday and went the other way again, lining a single over the shortstop’s head into left field in the seventh inning on Thursday.

It’s a positive sign to see Baty be such a mature hitter so early in his professional career. He mirrors a young Alec Bohm, who is also a third baseman, but from the right side. Bohm was a Rookie of the Year finalist in 2020.

Pete Crow-Armstrong came in off the bench and went hitless. The 18-year-old hasn’t yet logged a hit in six spring training at-bats in 2021.

The Mets are off on Friday but will play the Houston Astros in West Palm Beach on Saturday night with Jacob deGrom on the mound.