The hits came early and often at Clover Park on Friday.

Every spot in the lineup recorded at least one hit as the Mets shut out the Nationals 7-0. New York scored all of its runs in the first four innings — two of those runs courtesy of Juan Soto‘s second blast of the spring. The Mets totaled 13 hits on the afternoon.

The lineup featured the closest resemblance yet of what the regular-season top of the order might look like. It started in the leadoff spot with Francisco Lindor, who had been 0-for-8 so far this spring. He went 2-for-4 on Friday, including a 103.5 mph single to lead off the first inning.

Both of Lindor’s hits came from the right side of the plate against southpaws Shinnosuke Ogasawara and Mitchell Parker. Lindor’s numbers from the right side, both last year and for his career, are just slightly higher against lefties than against righties.

Though much fanfare was made of the Mets’ 1-5 in the order, it was their No. 6 hitter, catcher Luis Torrens, who was the early-game hero. He went the other way on a 72 mph curveball with two outs in the first to put the Mets up 2-0. He singled again in the third, leading to a Tyrone Taylor RBI single that made it 5-0. Scoring on Taylor’s hit was five-hole hitter Mark Vientos, who’s had a slow start to the spring but singled to right field. Vientos later had an RBI groundout to make it 7-0.

Torrens is now 5-for-12 to start the spring.

The biggest knock for the Mets came in the second inning. Soto, naturally hitting out of the two-hole as the Mets’ best hitter, cranked a two-run homer to left field. Particularly impressive was that it came in a lefty-lefty matchup with Ogasawara still on the mound. Soto had somewhat of an inside-out swing and didn’t necessarily even appear to get all of it, but he unleashed it 106 mph the other way and all the way over the wall.

Both of Soto’s spring home runs have been to the opposite field. In 2024, Soto hit 41 home runs — 22 of them were pulled, 10 were to center field and nine were hit the other way. Soto batted .374 with a 224 wRC+ on balls hit the other way in 2024.

For his career, 56 of his 201 home runs (27.9%) have been to the opposite field. His career wRC+ on balls hit to the opposite field is 201, with a .389 average and 1.136 OPS. Those are higher than his numbers when pulling the ball or hitting it to center field.

Soto is no stranger to hitting well off of lefties, either. Last year, his wRC+ against lefties was nearly identical to his wRC+ against righties — 174 and 182, respectively.

Mets fans are getting to see firsthand not only how good Soto is, but how well-rounded he is. There are almost no holes in his offensive game — he can hit the ball to all fields and handle pitchers from either side. He hits for power, hits for a high average and of course has elite plate discipline.

Soto now has a casual 1.569 OPS this spring in his first nine plate appearances wearing orange and blue.

Batting third in the order, Pete Alonso joined the party with a fourth-inning double, hit softly to right field. José Azocar followed with an RBI single.

Azocar entered in the fourth inning for Nimmo, who rounded out the Mets’ core top five in the cleanup spot. It was Nimmo’s first action of the spring. He didn’t get a hit in two trips to the plate, but he did draw a walk in his first plate appearance. Nimmo posted a walk rate of 11.6% last year, up slightly from the previous two years. His overall walk numbers have fallen, though, from 2017-2021, when he was over 15% twice and over 18% once.

The Mets, after taking a 7-0 lead through four innings, finally had a goose egg in the fifth. Luisangel Acuña still recorded an infield hit in the frame as he competes for an increased role.

The Mets made a slew of defensive substitutions in the sixth, and although they didn’t score any more runs, they still got some contributions from the new guys. Top prospect Jett Williams had a single and a walk in Soto’s spot. Azocar, with his hit in Nimmo’s original spot, is now 3-for-10 this spring. Prospect Alex Ramírez also had a hit to improve to 3-for-11.

Ryan Clifford entered for Alonso but went 0-for-2. He’s 1-for-8 on the young spring, though the one was a homer.

It was, overall, a productive day of offense for the Mets as they gradually ramp up for the regular season. With a top five of Lindor, Soto, Alonso, Nimmo and Vientos, they should be able to expect plenty of more days like this. The Mets have a generational talent in the two-hole for them now, a fact that fans might still be getting used to. And they have a pretty solid group around him, too — one that’s starting to flash its prowess as the spring wears on.