Photo: Ed Delany, MMO

Part of the fun of Spring Training is getting a glimpse of the future.

On Friday, New York Mets No. 1 prospect, Andres Gimenez, batted ninth for the team against the St. Louis Cardinals and went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

“To get to have these young guys come up here for us to get to see them is really fun,” said manager Mickey Callaway.

It was Gimenez’s fifth appearance of the Spring and first game that he played all nine innings. He looked poised at the plate and handled his opportunities at shortstop with ease.

After the game, he conducted his interview completely in English, his second language.

“It’s great for me, it’s a dream come true to play with the big leaguers, to play with some of my heroes I was just watching on TV. Right now playing here is big,” said the lefty-hitting Gimenez.

With Amed Rosario graduating last season, Gimenez is now widely regarded as the Mets top prospect. Friday was a taste of what he wants to accomplish in the future, and he isn’t taking it for granted.

“It’s special,” Gimenez said of his high prospect ranking. “But I know I need to work hard every day for my dream to come true. It’s big for me to be a prospect in the organization but it’s special for me too and I’ve got to keep working.”

The Mets were able to score just one run on Friday against the Cards, which came off a laser from Gimenez that turned into a double in the fifth inning.

Callaway commended Gimenez after the game and raved about his strong at-bats.

“He has such a good clock when he’s out there,” Callaway said. “The game doesn’t speed up on him. He looks like a veteran fielder. The things that stood out to (bench coach) Gary DiSarcina and myself were his ability to stay locked into the game, move around, remember the hitters be in the right position, always looking in.

“He’s had some really good instruction. Really nice looking little player. It looks like his defense is going to be solid for a long, long period of time.”

At just 19-years-old, the sky is the limit for Gimenez and it will be exciting to see him progress and hopefully reach the majors and hold down the middle infield with Rosario in the near future.