San Diego Padres fans have been waiting to see top prospect Ethan Salas in the big leagues for years. That wait is now over.
Salas, who is 20 years and 93 days old, made his MLB debut for the Padres’ road game against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. In doing so, he became the youngest catcher to play in an MLB game since the legendary Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez debuted at 19 years old in 1991.
This is good company for Salas to share, as Pudge Rodriguez was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017, on what was his first ballot.
Of course, Salas still has a very long way to go before being deemed a Hall of Famer. But the 20-year-old has plenty of time to make his mark in the big leagues.
The Padres signed Salas as an international amateur free agent in 2023, giving him a $5.6 million signing bonus. He was just 16 years old at the time, but wasted no time progressing through the Padres’ organization.
Salas was then promoted to the Padres’ big league roster on Tuesday and got his first start on Wednesday, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his first three plate appearances. He produced a .296 average and an .822 OPS in 96 games in the minor leagues this season, and is seen as an extremely gifted defensive catcher.
This is a period of change for the Padres’ organization, as the team was sold to José E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, for $3.9 billion last month.
The future looks bright in San Diego, largely because of Salas.
