Padres Made Big Change to Top Prospect Ethan Salas Leading to Breakout

Over the past year, catcher Ethan Salas has worked hard on his craft to become the top prospect that everyone in the San Diego Padres organization believed he could be.

The Padres farm system has been decimated from trades over the last few years, but Salas has remained, and he is still a key piece to the team's future.

After struggling over the last couple years, Salas has started to break out this season, showing the Padres what he could become. The catcher dealt with some injuries that limited his production last year, and while he was recovering, he worked on his stance at the plate.

Salas worked on transitioning from a straight-on stance with a slight leg lift to a more open stance that closes. This move has seemed to make a big difference, and Salas is now hitting the ball better than ever.

Mike Daly, the Padres assistant director of player development, discussed the changes to Salas and how it's made a major difference for the catcher in a conversation with MLB.com.

“With that toe tap, he’s been on time more, which is certainly how he's still controlling the strike zone,” Daly said. “I think for that reason, coupled with all the work that he did last year, he's hitting the ball more consistently, and he's hitting the ball harder.”

This batting stance tweak has seemed to make a big difference for Salas, as he is now performing very well in Double-A. Overall, he is hitting .314 with six home runs and 20 runs batted in, while posting an OPS of .947.

Salas has always been known for being a defensive catcher, specifically having a strong hold on the running game. But his bat has come alive this season, and this has been excellent for the Padres' brass to see from the young player.

San Diego doesn't have a long-term plan at the catcher spot, and the team may be banking on Salas becoming the guy for them. But he will need to remain consistent at the plate over the course of the year, and to this point, there is no reason to believe that his success won't continue.

Due to his performance this season, Salas has reentered to the Top-100 prospects list, per MLB Pipeline. Salas is still only 19 years old, so he has plenty of time to keep growing his game, but his improvement this year has been very eye-opening for the future.

“Ethan's work ethic is elite,” Daly said. “It’s a credit to our high performance team, our trainers, our medical group in terms of being able to know what that balance was and when to push him. He spent a lot of time in Arizona working on his body, letting it recover, but also adding strength, good strength.

"It's been great to see some of that reward for all his hard work pay off here early in 2026.”

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