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The Scenario: The September roster growth is a fairly good time to get your high prospects some major-league expertise whereas acclimating them to life within the large leagues. It’s maybe a little bit extra uncommon to do it with a high catching prospect in the midst of a playoff race, however right here’s Ethan Salas.
Background: Salas was one in every of, if not the highest, IFA prospects of 2023 and was promoted aggressively by the Padres (in each sense of the phrase). As a 17-year-old he instantly got here stateside and began his professional profession within the full-season Cal League, making it to Double-A earlier than the tip of the 12 months. His top-line numbers and even his underlying metrics had been darn good for a 17-year-old at these ranges, however it was troublesome to parse precisely what Salas was going to be—even past regular teenaged catcher variance. Nonetheless, given his age, defensive projection, and efficiency, we ranked Salas among the many greatest prospects in all of baseball, slotting him in twelfth general earlier than the 2024 season. He settled in for a full-season within the Midwest League in 2025, however scuffled to a .206/.288/.311 line after which missed virtually all the 2025 season with a again damage (all the time what you need from a 19-year-old catching prospect). A wholesome Salas bounced again in 2026, although, placing up a pleasant line within the Texas League after which raking for a month in El Paso. He’s solely simply turned 20 years previous, and would be the youngest catcher within the majors since Dioner Navarro.Â
