San Diego is promoting top catching prospect Ethan Salas to the major leagues as rosters expand. At just 20 years old, the left-handed hitter becomes the youngest player in the big leagues and the youngest catcher to reach the majors since 1991, joining the Padres in the thick of a pennant race.
The Padres are calling up top catching prospect Ethan Salas as rosters expand to 28 players, injecting one of the sport’s most closely watched young talents directly into a tight Wild Card race. Salas, who turned 20 in June, arrives in the majors following a rapid ascent through the minor leagues that included a standout stint with Triple-A El Paso.
From Marquee International Prospect to Big League Callup
Salas entered the professional ranks as the marquee international prospect in the 2023 class, signing with San Diego for a $5.6MM bonus as the top player in that class. Although he was born in Florida, Salas spent part of his childhood in Venezuela and signed out of Latin America as an amateur, having played one game in the Venezuelan Winter League before signing with the Padres at just 16 years old.
The organization has long viewed him as their catcher of the future, pushing him aggressively through the minor league system early in his career and advancing him to Double-A within a couple of months of his 17th birthday. After enduring a difficult 2024 campaign in High-A where he batted .206 with four home runs across 111 games, and subsequently losing most of his 2025 season to a back injury—specifically a stress reaction in his back—Salas mounted a strong rebound this year.
Reaching Double-A to start 2026, he hit .286/.361/.417 over 72 contests before earning a late-July promotion to Triple-A. At El Paso, Salas batted .326/.410/.539 with more walks than strikeouts in 24 games. Meanwhile, a .949 OPS over the past month confirmed that his offensive approach, swing decisions, and quality of contact had fully returned to form.
Defensive Acumen and Roster Fit in San Diego
Evaluators widely regard Salas as one of the most advanced defenders in the minor leagues, with Baseball America, FanGraphs, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, and Keith Law of The Athletic each ranking Salas as the game’s top catching prospect and among the top 15 minor league talents, while MLB Pipeline slots Salas 23rd overall and fourth among backstops. While second-half performances from Luis Campusano and Freddy Fermin have provided solid catching work for San Diego, both players have experienced slumps over the last couple of weeks.
Manager Craig Stammen is expected to continue relying primarily on the Campusano-Fermin tandem behind the plate, but Salas adds a much-needed left-handed bat to a bench that recently lost Gavin Sheets and the switch-hitting Luis Rengifo over the weekend. Salas can serve as a lefty weapon off the bench or a platoon partner at DH with Austin Hays, and his presence allows the Padres to be flexible with their backstops by pinch-hitting as needed or using Campusano in a DH role against left-handed pitching with Salas as cover. The Friars can accommodate Salas on the 40-man roster by transferring Rengifo, who is slated for ACL surgery, to the 60-day injured list, and they will also be able to bring up a 14th pitcher for September.
Historic Context and Long-Term Club Control
Assuming he makes a defensive appearance for the club, Salas will be the youngest MLB catcher since Iván Rodríguez debuted as a 19-year-old in 1991. The last time the Padres carried a player younger than Salas was in 2019, when they brought up Fernando Tatis Jr.
Despite arriving late in the season, Salas remains rookie eligible in 2027. Under MLB rules, he could net the Padres a future draft pick via the Prospect Promotion Incentive if he breaks camp and meets the award criteria, such as winning Rookie of the Year or finishing in the top three of MVP voting within his first three seasons. He remains under club control for at least six full seasons, and won’t qualify for arbitration until the 2029-30 offseason at the earliest. The bigger roster consideration is that the Padres are selecting Salas onto the 40-man roster a year earlier than would’ve been necessary to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft, meaning he’ll be subject to a potential lockout and would be ineligible for minor league play if the work stoppage carries into next season.
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