Andres Gimenez makes the Mets’ Opening Day roster

After making a number of offseason moves aimed at bringing veteran depth on board, the Mets added a pinch of youth to their Opening Day roster.

Andres Gimenez, a 21-year-old shortstop prospect, was one of the surprises on the Mets’ 30-man roster that the club finalized Thursday ahead of Friday’s opener against the Braves at Citi Field.

“Ever since I came here, we made a commitment that we’re going to try to win every single game,” general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said Thursday on a Zoom call. “Andres was a player that we felt like on Opening Day gives us a chance to help us win games. He can win games with his speed, he can win games with his glove and obviously with a bat and the ability to play all sorts of different variables.”

Gimenez will be one of seven bench players available to rookie manager Luis Rojas, as the Mets opted to start the season with 16 position players and 14 pitchers. The rosters will be trimmed to 28 players in two weeks and 26 two weeks after that.

Among the Mets’ 14 pitchers are four clear-cut starters and 10 relief options. The final bullpen jobs went to Drew Smith, Corey Oswalt, Hunter Strickland, Chasen Shreve and Paul Sewald. Oswalt had been tabbed as a potential rotation replacement for Marcus Stroman (calf tear), along with David Peterson and Erasmo Ramirez, though the latter two did not make the initial roster. Van Wagenen was non-committal about Oswalt stepping into the fifth starter spot.

“Luis has a 30-man roster at this point,” Van Wagenen said. “He has the flexibility and ability to use all 30 guys on Day 1 and throughout the whole course of this first week of the season. As far as who’s going to be starting that fifth game, or fourth game, depending on how he sets his rotation, it’s not predetermined who that’s going to be.”

The Mets will need a fifth starter by Tuesday against the Red Sox.

Veteran infielder Eduardo Nunez and veteran catcher Rene Rivera also made the team, as the Mets will begin the season with three backstops. In order to make room for Nunez, Shreve and Strickland on the 40-man roster, the Mets designated left-hander Stephen Gonsalves for assignment.

As for Gimenez’s inclusion, it marks the second straight year the Mets promoted a prospect to the Opening Day roster instead of service-time manipulation getting in the way. While Gimenez may not have as big of a role as Pete Alonso, the Mets believed he was still worthy of a roster spot for the start of a 60-game sprint.

“He doesn’t have the benefit of getting 140 games in the minor leagues to continue his progression as a major league-ready player,” Van Wagenen said. “But we do think there are aspects of his game that are 100 percent ready to compete at this level.”