Here are 5 players to watch as the 51s begin their season

The Las Vegas 51s kick off their season on Thursday against El Paso with a mix of young, exciting prospects and veterans.

They should boast a strong offense, headlined by three of the New York Mets’ top 10 prospects per MLB.com — Amed Rosario, Dominic Smith and Gavin Cecchini.

Sean Gilmartin, likely the first to get a call up should the Mets need a starter, will head their rotation, which is filled with three veteran free agents — Donovan Hand, Adam Wilk and Wilfredo Boscan — along with Ricky Knapp, who made three starts for the 51s this season.

And like last year, their bullpen features two locals in Paul Sewald and Chasen Bradford.

“I think the mix of veteran players with the younger players, whenever you’ve got guys like Cecchini, Rosario, (Phillip) Evans, (Matt) Reynolds, Dom, (Kevin) lawecki, whenever you’ve got that mix between the younger guys and then some of the older guys like Josh Rodriguez and so forth, you can have a good feeling about the team,” manager Pedro Lopez said.

Here are five players to watch as the season gets underway:

Amed Rosario, SS

The 21-year-old is the youngest player on the 51s.

But despite often playing against older players than himself, Rosario has impressed as he’s made his way through the minor league system.

“The best way to describe him is electric. That’s what he brings to the table,” Lopez said. “He’s a five-tool player that can do a little bit of everything. It’s a different sound when the ball comes off his bat.”

The shortstop is the Mets No. 1 prospect and a consensus top-10 prospect throughout Major League Baseball.

Rosario slashed .341/.392/.481 last year with 73 hits in 54 games at Double-A Binghamton last year.

“I’m going to continue to work hard to show them everything on my defense, on my batting and continue to improve and show them that I’m ready to move up,” Rosario said through a translator.

Dominic Smith, 1B

Smith, the team’s No. 2 prospect, was their first-round pick in 2013.

He reported to camp 24 pounds lighter after swapping McDonalds and Pizza Hut for grilled chicken, broccoli and brown rice.

“I joke with him all the time. I’m like ‘I don’t want to see you eating anything bad,’ because he looks great right now,’ Lopez said. “I’m really proud of him. He did his homework in the offseason.”

Smith hit 14 home runs in Double-A a season ago, the most for him at any level in the minors and he’s hoping that power will shine through again.

“That definitely was one of my focuses last year,” Smith said. “I wanted to hit more home runs and drive in more runs but also by doing that, not lose the average.”

Gavin Cecchini, 2B

Cecchini should be a familiar name to 51s fans after spending the entire season in Las Vegas last year, hitting well enough to earn a September call up.

He’s back in Las Vegas but this time around, he’ll have a new position.

“You don’t want to wish injuries upon anyone, but if someone goes down, instead of just the only position I can play is shortstop, I’m more versatile,” Cecchini said during spring training. “It gives me a better chance to get up there and help the team win.”

Cecchini led the 51s in errors last season at shortstop but this year, he’ll be at second, where many within the organization have said he looks more natural.

Lopez said he might get a game in at short every 10-12 days and he might also slide over to third occasionally. He proved he could handle Triple-A offensively last year, hitting .325, good for third in the Pacific Coast league behind teammates T.J. Rivera and Brandon Nimmo.

Paul Sewald, RHP

Sewald, a Las Vegas native, is back for his second season with the 51s after closing for them a season ago.

In his first season, he posted a 3.29 ERA in 65 2/3 innings pitched while converting 19-of-23 saves.

Sewald was a 10th-round draft pick in 2012 but has put himself on the Mets’ radar after pitching consistently well year in and year out throughout the minors.

This spring, he was fighting for a spot in the Mets’ bullpen and was one of the last cuts in camp.

He posted a 2.51 ERA with a 0.89 WHIP in 11 games, 14 1/3 innings. Before his last outing, in which he gave up a pair of runs, he had a 1.46 ERA in 10 appearances.

Phillip Evans, 3B

Like Rosario and Smith, Evans will be making his Triple-A debut when the season starts.

Thought he will primarily play third base for the 51s, Lopez said he would also see some time in left field.

Evans, who was a 15th-round pick in 2011 out of high school, won the Eastern League batting title with a 4-for-6 day in the final game of the season.

He finished at .335 for the year and followed that with 23 hits in 19 games in winter ball in Puerto Rico.

Prior to breaking out last year, Evans hadn’t hit more than .252 in each of the past four seasons in the lower levels of the minors.

Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.