Ethan Salas Called Up by the Padres: The 20-Year-Old Catcher Set to Make MLB History
The San Diego Padres are calling up Ethan Salas, and the 20-year-old catcher is about to make history. If Salas gets into a game behind the plate this month, he will become the youngest catcher to appear in an MLB contest since Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez did it in 1991.
That is elite company. Pudge is a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest defensive catchers ever. Salas is being mentioned in the same breath before he has caught a single pitch in the majors.
The Padres signed Salas in 2023 out of Venezuela for $5.6 million in international bonus money, which was one of the largest bonuses ever handed to an international amateur. San Diego bet big on him at 16, and the bet is paying off.
This year between Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso, Salas hit .296 with a .822 OPS, 19 doubles, 2 triples, and 10 home runs across 96 games. His plate discipline numbers are the eye-opener: a 14.3 percent strikeout rate and an 11.6 percent walk rate. Those are grown-man numbers from a player who cannot legally drink in most states.
The scouting reports on Salas have been glowing since he was a teenager. Elite arm strength. Advanced pitch calling for his age. A quiet, powerful left-handed swing. He was consistently ranked as one of the top prospects in baseball, and he entered this season as the No. 23 overall prospect according to most rankings.
The Padres are calling him up because MLB rosters expand on September 1, and they need a left-handed bat behind the plate. Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano handle most of the catching duties, but neither hits from the left side, and Salas gives the team a matchup weapon in a pennant race.
San Diego is fighting for a Wild Card spot and is going to need every roster edge it can find. Salas is not being called up to sit. He is being called up to play.
The catching position is one of the hardest to break into as a young player. Catchers need to earn the trust of the pitching staff, manage in-game situations, and handle the physical toll of the position. Most prospects at the position are 24 or 25 before they get a real look. Salas is doing it at 20.
The Padres’ plan for him going forward is worth watching. If Salas plays well over the final month, he becomes a legitimate 2027 starter conversation piece. If he struggles, the team can send him back to Triple-A and let him keep developing without pressure.
Either way, San Diego has one of the best young catchers in the sport, and the timing of his debut lines up with a franchise trying to reclaim its place near the top of the National League West.
Pudge Rodriguez went on to a Hall of Fame career after his own teenage debut. Salas has every physical tool to write a similar story. The catch is that catcher is a punishing position, and staying healthy across a decade is the hardest part.
For now, Padres fans should just enjoy this. A 20-year-old catcher making his MLB debut in a playoff race, with historical context, is exactly the kind of moment that makes the sport special.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
