Salas’s Time Is Now, Whether Padres Are Ready Or Not

The San Diego Padres had a solid catching situation that went from good to excellent with the arrival of rookie Ethan Salas. Salas got stalled in the team’s minor league system for a long time due to injuries and his offensive struggles, but Salas finally shot up through the ranks when he got healthy, and the catcher made a big impact down the stretch and in the playaoffs. 

Salas described it as a “huge year of growth” in a piece by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, and he noted that this year was the most baseball he’s ever playe in his life. He also said he had the most fun he’s ever had, adding that he’s “super grateful.”

The Padres share his feelings, and his stats show why. His slash line was 296/.374/.448, and he was viewed by many scouts as the best defensive catcher in the minors. Salas went on to hit .256 with an OPS of .737 in 16 regular season games, and he even got valuable experience in the postseason. 

His rise has also put the Padres in an interesting position. They were already getting good production from their pre-Salas pairing of Luis Campusano and Freddy Fermin, with Campusano contributing on offense and Fermin holding down the fort defensively when he played. 

The fly in the ointment going forward is Salas’s age and overall inexperience, according to Cassavell, who pointed out that the history of 20-year old catchers in the big leagues can be uneven, as the development process is often anything but linear. 

But Fermin and Campusano are both arbitration-eligible, which means there’s a temptation to make a deal from a position of strength. That’s where things get tricky, though, as Fermin wouldn’t bring back much given that his offense is typical of most backup catchers, while Campusano would bring back a haul if the Padres chose to go that route. 

GM A.J. Preller did what he usually does when confronted by tricky situations like this, which is hedge and backpedal. He offered some generic comments about the value of depth, healthy competition between the three catchers and so on, then added that “I don’t think anybody’s going to be guaranteed anything.” 

He added that it’s going to be a competition-type situation for Salas, but it’s hard to imagine that lasting if Salas continues to play the way he did. Preller loves to make deals, and this is exactly the kind of situation that could set him up to make a big one.