In a somewhat stunning twist of fate, the San Diego Padres are calling up one of their most highly touted prospects in the history of the franchise. 

Catcher Ethan Salas is getting the call to the Major Leagues, earning his promotion as a September call-up, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Salas, 20, would become the youngest player to appear as a catcher since Hall of Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez in 1991 when he makes his MLB debut. 

It has been a tale of two seasons for Ethan Salas, who is coming off an elite season across two levels. Salas’ combined slash between Double-A San Antonio & Triple-A El Paso adds up to .296/.374/.448 over 96 games. Salas’ renaissance (affectionately dubbed as “The Salassaince” by MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell) saw him spend 72 games at Double-A with a 111 wRC+, with most of his action coming behind the plate.

The Padres then made the seemingly bold move of moving Salas up to Triple-A near the trade deadline, and Salas’ offensive output has been even better. Since the call-up to Triple-A, Salas hit .326 with a .949 OPS and 125 wRC+. A more telling sign of Salas’ performance has been some of the defensive assignments he has received. Salas has caught every one of Joe Musgrove’s rehab starts, and most recently caught Nick Pivetta’s rehab start at Triple-A El Paso. He has also thrown out 36.7% of stolen base attempts this season. 

When looking at his contact data, Salas is really within a league of his own.

He hardly swings and misses, and has a 93.1% zone-contact percentage on swings in Triple-A. His swinging strike rate is a miniscule 5.4%, and when he makes contact, he averages an exit velocity of 89.2 mph. His 90th percentile exit velocity of 105 mph on the season puts him in elite company; when pairing his whiff rate and EV90 (90th percentile exit velocity), there is only one player in affiliated baseball that fits the same parameters: Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz. 

When it comes to finding Salas’ fit on the MLB roster, the team has a few options. Salas’ bat will be the big asset, though his defense is just as strong. With the Padres losing Gavin Sheets and Luis Rengifo, it is likely that Salas sees time at both catcher and designated hitter. Luis Campusano could see more time at DH to give Salas time behind the plate, and Salas has the experience of catching Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove, which could slot him into regular starting duty when the duo returns. 

It’s an exciting time to watch these, Padres. Having watched Salas since his signing with the club, there is no doubt that, in my eyes, he is ready and waiting for the next challenge, which is the Major Leagues.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.