5 players to watch in the 51s-Oklahoma City Dodgers series

The 51s begin a four-game set with Oklahoma City on Saturday night. Here are five players to watch:

Julio Urias, LHP, Dodgers

The 51s will get their first look at the 19-year-old starter, who is considered by many to be the top pitching prospect in baseball, on Saturday.

Urias, who is 3-1 on the season, leads the Pacific Coast League with a 1.50 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP.He hasn’t given up a run in his past three outings and past 16 innings dating back to April 22.

The Dodgers are trying to limit his usage, though, and he hasn’t pitched more than six innings or 80 pitches in a start.

Gabriel Ynoa, RHP, 51s

Urias isn’t the only pitcher who has made easy work of the PCL throwing in the series. Ynoa, whose 1.77 ERA is second in the league behind Urias, will start for Las Vegas on Tuesday.

He has won his past four starts and has thrown six consecutive quality starts. His last outing was his longest of the season, as he went eight innings and gave up just one run to El Paso.

Zach Walters, INF, Dodgers

Walters, a Wyoming native, went to high school at Cimarron-Memorial after moving to Las Vegas in junior high.

He spent his last season moving back and fourth between the Indians and Triple-A and was traded to the Dodgers in early April. Walters, who played a lot of left field last season, has been strictly used in the infield this season, bouncing around between second, third and short.

He’s hitting .228 with a pair of home runs in his first 23 games at Oklahoma City.

Austin Barnes, C, Dodgers

The Dodgers’ catcher is the team’s No. 8 prospect per Baseball America.

Barnes is hitting .309/.429/.395 in 21 games this season. His .429 on-base percentage leads the team, in part because his 15 walks taken this season also lead the team.

Last year, Barnes hit .315 with nine homers in 81 games at Triple-A.

T.J. Rivera

Rivera leads the 51s with 27 RBIs, adding three more in Friday’s loss to the Chihuahuas. He’s second on the team, hitting .324 behind just Ty Kelly, and he’s provided value around the infield for Las Vegas.

With shortstop Gavin Cecchini sidelined until at least Tuesday, Rivera will likely see most of his time at third this series with Matt Reynolds at short.