MARCH 6 • SANDIEGOUNIONTRIBUNE.COM
ETHAN SALAS
Padres minors: Leo De Vries, Ethan Salas highlight Spring Breakout roster Padres two top-100 prospects both playing in Spring Breakout game against Athletics
Reassigned to minors camp The Padres reassigned Salas to minor-league camp Thursday, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Impact Salas, 18, was given a non-roster invitee but was always destined to return to the minors to begin the 2025 season. He's a gifted defensive catcher, but the top prospect slashed only .206/.288/.311 at High-A Fort Wayne in 2024, so he'll be looking to take a step forward offensively this season.
MARCH 6 • ROTOWIRE
Collecting hits at High-A Salas is slashing .260/.302/.364 with eight doubles, zero home runs and a 16:5 K:BB over his last 20 games for High-A Fort Wayne.
Impact Salas has a .206 average, .599 OPS and 75 wRC+ in 111 games for the Tin Caps, so this recent stretch qualifies as him heating up. The 18-year-old catcher makes for a tough evaluation, as he has elite pedigree and is extremely young for his level, yet he has produced at well below league-average levels ever since he was promoted from Single-A Lake Elsinore in August of 2023.
SEPTEMBER 10, 2024 • ROTOWIRE
Moves to IL Double-A San Antonio placed Salas (knee) on its 7-day injured list Wednesday.
Impact Salas' move to the IL was a foregone conclusion after he suffered what is believed to be a season-ending right knee sprain earlier this month. The 17-year-old is expected to have a normal offseason and should be fully healed ahead of spring training, when he'll likely enter the 2024 campaign as one of the more highly regarded catching prospects in baseball. Salas closes the 2023 season with a .248/.331/.421 slash line to go with nine home runs and five stolen bases across 66 games between San Antonio, High-A Fort Wayne and Single-A Lake Elsinore.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 • ROTOWIRE
Sprained knee ends season Salas is expected to miss the remainder of the season at Double-A San Antonio after being diagnosed with a right knee sprain, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Impact Salas suffered the injury during Saturday's game and is expected to be sidelined for about four weeks, so he's simply going to run out of time even if San Antonio makes a playoff run. It's an unfortunate ending to what has been a remarkable season for the top prospect, as Salas managed to reach the Double-A level as a 17-year-old. Thankfully, he should have a normal offseason.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2023 • ROTOWIRE
Exits Saturday with knee issue Salas departed Double-A San Antonio's win over Wichita after three innings Saturday due to right knee irritation, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Impact Salas started behind the plate and went 0-for-1 before his departure. According to Sanders, Padres player development indicated that initial evaluation of Salas was "very positive" and has labeled the 17-year-old as day-to-day. Salas has struggled since being promoted to Double-A on Aug. 20, slashing .179/.303/.214 with no homers over 33 plate appearances, though he continues to display good patience with a 12.5 percent walk rate.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2023 • ROTOWIRE
Heading to Double-A Salas was promoted from High-A Fort Wayne to Double-A San Antonio on Sunday, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports.
Impact Salas is among the top prospects in baseball, and he's progressed quickly through the Padres' farm system this year. After being promoted from Single-A to High-A in early August, he'll join the Double-A ranks a few weeks later. Over 57 minor-league games this year, he's slashed .257/.335/.447 with nine homers, 38 runs, 38 RBI and five stolen bases.
AUGUST 20, 2023 • ROTOWIRE
Moving up to High-A Salas has been promoted to High-A Fort Wayne, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Impact Though Salas has slumped to start August, going 1-for-20 with a 45 percent strikeout rate over five games, he is coming off an incredible July during which he won the California League's Player of the Month award and slashed .366/.416/.720 with seven home runs, 21 RBI, 19 runs and two stolen bases over 19 contests. Of course, all of the catcher's accomplishments on the field are made more remarkable by the fact that he's only 17 years old. With his ascension to High-A, Salas becomes the youngest player in the history of the TinCaps franchise. He's batting second and catching in his Fort Wayne debut Wednesday.
AUGUST 9, 2023 • ROTOWIRE
Powering up in Single-A ball Over his past eight games with Single-A Lake Elsinore, Salas has slashed .400/.500/1.067 with five home runs, three doubles, one triple, 13 RBI and a 5:7 BB:K.
Impact Salas got off to a slow start after being sent to full-season ball for his professional debut, and through June 28 he was batting .207 with just one homer. However, the promising prospect has taken off since then, justifying the organization's decision to have him skip ahead to Single-A rather than debut in the Arizona Complex League. Given Salas' development at such a young age (he turned 17 on June 1), the sky appears to be the limit for him, and dynasty managers who roster the backstop have every reason to be ecstatic about his potential as a future MLB star.
JULY 9, 2023 • ROTOWIRE
Making pro debut at Single-A Salas was added to Single-A Lake Elsinore's roster Tuesday, Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com reports.
Impact There had been some speculation that Salas, who turns 17 this week, would open in the Arizona Complex League, but the Padres decided to expedite matters and send the catching phenom to full-season ball for his pro debut. Salas is obviously incredibly advanced on both sides of the ball, and if he has notable success as the youngest hitter at Single-A, his stock will continue to rise.
MAY 30, 2023 • ROTOWIRE
