Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 15 seasons full-time on the beat.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Combined, the Mets and Nationals organizations feature seven Top 100 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline’s industry-leading list. If those two franchises have their way, the likes of Jett Williams, Drew Gilbert and Luisangel Acuña will spend much of the next decade battling against Dylan Crews, James Wood and company for National League East supremacy. 

Why not start now? 

Those organizations will oppose each other Friday in the inaugural edition of Spring Breakout, a new MLB initiative designed to give fans a closer look at some of the game’s brightest prospects. Unlike the Futures Game in July, which features only one or two prospects from each organization, or standard-issue Grapefruit League games, which might only include a prospect cameo here and there, Spring Breakout is a full-on, seven-inning prospect bonanza. 

“It’s just going to be as close to a big league Spring Training game as we can possibly have, and it’s a great opportunity for them to compete on the bigger stage,” Mets senior vice president of player development Andy Green said. “It’s another step forward in the development.” 

The Mets’ Spring Breakout game against the Nationals will be aired live at 3:10 p.m. ET Friday on SNY, ESPN+ and MLB digital platforms. It will feature some of the brightest names in both organizations, including 20 of the Mets’ Top 30 prospects and 22 of the Nationals’ Top 30. 

For the Mets, that includes relatively new additions to the organization such as Colin Houck, Brandon Sproat and Marco Vargas, who are making waves in the Minors but didn’t appear in big league camp. It will also include a slew of close-to-the-Majors players like Williams, Gilbert, Acuña and Dominic Hamel. 

“It should be a fun game for a lot of fans to watch,” Green said. 

Added Hamel: “It’s a cool little event for people to watch. It’s like a younger Major League Spring Training. It’s very high-level talent.”

Part of the reason why teams bring prospects to big league camp is to expose them to Major League situations, so that when they arrive for real, they won’t be overwhelmed. Spring Breakout includes an element of that as well. The Major League Mets are scheduled to play the night half of a doubleheader immediately following the Spring Breakout game, which should make for a solid weekend crowd at Clover Park. 

Those fans will be able to see matchups such as Hamel versus Crews, or Blade Tidwell against Wood -- realistic showdowns that could occur in the NL East in future seasons. The results of such at-bats might not necessarily be instructive for Mets evaluators, but they should be plenty entertaining for those in attendance. 

“I don’t think we’re going to read too much into what happens in seven innings in the middle of March,” Green said. “We know where these guys are on their journeys. Nothing’s really going to be impacted developmentally. It’s just a great showcase opportunity for them. The more times you get to play in front of fans, it makes New York a little bit of a smaller jump.”

One week ago, Pipeline released its Top 30 Mets Prospects list, which contained all sorts of interesting nuggets. Of note, seven of the players on that list were new acquisitions last season: 

• No. 2: Gilbert -- acquired from the Astros for Justin Verlander 

• No. 3: Acuña -- acquired from the Rangers for Max Scherzer 

• No. 4: OF Ryan Clifford -- acquired from the Astros for Verlander 

• No. 7: Houck -- drafted in the first round 

• No. 8: Vargas -- acquired from the Marlins for David Robertson 

• No. 12: INF Jeremy Rodriguez -- acquired from the Diamondbacks for Tommy Pham 

• No. 13: Sproat -- drafted in the second round 

All seven of those players will appear in Spring Breakout. 

“It’s cool to be a part of something that they’re kind of building,” Clifford said earlier this month. “It’s cool to go from Houston to here and see what’s different about it -- see what I like, some things that are different and whatnot. It’s cool to be a part of what hopefully in the future ends up being a really good farm system that turns into a lot of great Major Leaguers.”

March 12, 2013: David Wright reaffirmed his “Captain America” nickname, driving home five runs during a Team USA win over Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic. Wright had hit a walk-off, two-run single to eliminate Puerto Rico in the 2009 event and a grand slam against Team Italy in pool play in 2013. That set the stage for his five-RBI outburst in the second round against Puerto Rico, by which point many around the event were calling him by his new moniker. While the nickname stuck, Wright’s presence didn’t, as he eventually bowed out of the 2013 tournament due to an oblique injury. 

When that happened, Wright’s USA teammates hung a superhero cape in the dugout to recognize his contributions.

• For more on Spring Breakout, check out this game-specific FAQ from my Nationals counterpart Jessica Camerato.

• Sean Manaea cut his hair last week and then immediately submitted his best outing of the spring. Jacob deGrom vibes?

• Bill Ladson wrote about another new pitcher as well: Adrian Houser, who has deep ties with Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns.

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