This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- That’s close to a wrap from Port St. Lucie, where the Mets have two more games this weekend before capping things across the state with a final Grapefruit League exhibition in Tampa. The Mets still have a few t’s to cross and i’s to dot on their roster, but -- outside of Kodai Senga’s right shoulder injury -- they’ve had a reasonably straightforward camp.

Before we bid our final adieus to Florida’s Treasure Coast, I wanted to take this time to highlight some of our coverage. Here’s a sampling of my favorite spring stories:

Francisco Alvarez’s language-learning journey

When Alvarez first arrived in the United States as a teenager, he was so intimidated by the language barrier that he couldn’t even give his own order at Chipotle. He has since set his mind to learning English and has become so proficient that, for the first time, he’s comfortable conducting interviews in his second language.

“It’s like every single year he comes back, he’s better and better and better,” said longtime teammate Brett Baty. “Even my parents have noticed that, too. They’ve been here. He’ll go up to them and he’ll talk to them in English. They’ll be like, ‘Oh my gosh, his English is so much better.’”

Darryl Strawberry’s new mission

The Mets legend, who will have his jersey number retired at Citi Field this summer, opened up about his work as a public speaker at maximum-security prisons across the country.

“I get a chance to speak with a lot of broken people, hurting people, because once upon a time, that was me,” Strawberry said.

Shortly after visiting Port St. Lucie, Strawberry had to put his mission on hold due to a heart attack. But he was discharged from the hospital days later and is back in excellent spirits, with plans to continue his ministry work as soon as he’s able.

Ji Man Choi and a barrel of laughs

The Mets signed Choi, a South Korean veteran who speaks conversational English, just before the start of camp. Before the team agreed to sign J.D. Martinez, Choi was making a push to be part of the Opening Day roster. In the interim, he’s been entertaining teammates and fans with his unique brand of humor. Some teammates who know Choi a bit offered a window into his vibrant personality.

The longest-tenured Mets pitcher is… who?!

That would be none other than Drew Smith, as good a conversationalist as anyone in the clubhouse. I caught up with Smith earlier this spring to discuss the Lucas Duda trade that brought him to Flushing all those years ago, the possibility that this could be his last year in New York, and, yes, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Curse.

(Sneak preview: “I’ll prove the curse wrong this year,” Smith said. “It can’t happen three years in a row, so we’ll prove it wrong.”)

José Quintana is a brand-new American

This one is hot off the presses. Quintana drove to Miami earlier this week to take the United States naturalization test, which he passed. (“It was easy,” he said.) Quintana is one of the most successful Colombian-born players in Major League history. Now, as he prepares to start Opening Day for the Mets, he’s an American citizen.

Luis Severino’s bid to stay healthy

The Met with the widest range of outcomes may be Severino, who hasn’t submitted a full, healthy season since 2018. During his Grapefruit League debut earlier this month, Severino hit 98 mph and allowed everyone watching to dream on what he could potentially be.

“He’s been through a lot in the past couple of years with injuries,” said manager Carlos Mendoza, who knows Severino well from their mutual time together with the Yankees. “But now he’s in a good place. I’m excited to see Sevy returning to his old form.”

Can Adam Ottavino limit the running game?

Essentially no one was worse than Ottavino last season at dissuading opposing base stealers. You knew it. They knew it. He knew it. So Ottavino went into the lab to try to fix it.

“It honestly just makes you sick to your stomach,” Ottavino said. “You want to feel like you got beat out there, rather than you just gave it to them.”

Spring Breakout was kind of awesome

MLB created a new event this year called Spring Breakout, which pits teams of prospects against each other. The Mets played the Nationals at Clover Park, with the majority of each franchise’s Top 30 prospects list represented. I teamed up with one of MLB.com’s prospect gurus, Sam Dykstra, to break it all down, led by one recent Draft pick who was firing 99-mph heat.

Pete Alonso on just about everything

The Mets didn’t sign Alonso to a contract extension this spring. They won’t sign him to a contract extension this summer. After that, we’ll see. Team officials remain confident that they can retain Alonso on a lucrative long-term deal in free agency if both sides want this marriage to continue. In the interim, Alonso kicked off Spring Training by addressing the elephant in the room.