In anticipation of rosters expanding, the San Diego Padres are preparing to call up top catching prospect Ethan Salas this week in an effort to help secure a spot in the postseason.
Salas originally signed as an international free agent when he was just 16 years old, and has spent the entirety of his professional career in the Padres organization. The now 20 year old will become the youngest active player in the Major Leagues when he makes his debut.
The 6’1″ left handed bat is set to become the youngest catcher to make his MLB debut since Ivan Rodriguez broke into the big leagues as a 19 year old back in 1991.
After having a strong showing with Single-A Lake Elsinore as a 17 year old, San Diego attempted to fast track his progress by bumping him up to Double-A San Antonio. That leap proved a bit too ambitious for the teenager, who struggled to a .179 average across 9 games. As a result, he spent most of 2024 at High-A Fort Wayne for additional seasoning.
As 2025 rolled around, Salas was sidelined for all but 10 games due to a back injury. Now back to full health, the talented backstop has hit .296 with 10 HRs, 61 RBIs, and 54 runs scored across 96 games split between AA and AAA.
San Diego has split catching duties in the second half between Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano, with mixed results. One has to figure they aren’t simply calling up Salas to sit on the bench, meaning the top prospect is likely to get a decent look behind the plate.
Luis Rengifo went down over the weekend with a scary looking knee injury and had to be carted off the field. As such, it’s widely expected that he’ll be placed on the 60-day injured list, clearing the way for the Padres to select Salas’ contract. San Diego is also incentivized to promote Salas as they could earn a future draft pick if he breaks camp with the team in 2027 and features in the rookie of the year conversation.
San Diego is currently a half game up on the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final NL wildcard spot heading into Tuesday’s slate of games. The team is 5-5 over their last 10 contests and will look to string together some wins as they continue their series against the Cincinnati Reds at 6:40pm ET.
The team will then have games against the Yankees, Nationals, Giants, Rockies, Marlins, and Dodgers before what could be a pivotal final 3 game set against Arizona on September 25-27th.
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