Padres 16-year-old Catcher Named Top 100 Prospect in America

This kid is REALLY good

Your San Diego Padres are one of the best teams in the league, loaded with superstar talent. However, their farm system is viewed a bit differently as they are ranked in the bottom half of the farm system rankings by the MLB and are ranked last in homegrown talent, according to Bleacher Report. 

Not where you want to be as an organization, but San Diego will continue to do what it can to collect talent and bring home a championship. Nonetheless, not all things are grey on the farm system side of things, as they have the top international player of the year, Ethan Salas. 

Salas, a catcher, is number one in the international prospect rankings and reached another accomplishment at only 16 years old. 

Ethan Salas is 16 years old and just entered Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list.

Just an unreal talent, the future at the catcher position is BRIGHT.

— Padres Nation (@NationPadres) April 7, 2023

Sixteen years old; can you believe it?!?! He already has a bright future ahead of him, and  MLB insider for the Atheltic Keith Law has high praise for the kid. 

Salas catches like a veteran already, and just watching him catch Musgrove it was easy to forget there was a 15!? year age difference between the two. Salas showed soft hands and agility behind the plate, with plenty of arm strength in warmup throws, and he had no trouble blocking the few times he had to get into position to do so. At the plate, he has an incredibly simple swing and controls the barrel very well, with a direct path to the ball and the ability to pull his hands in to adjust to stuff on the inner third.

The kid from Venezuela already has people's heads turning, and you can't blame them. According to MLB, Salas is projected to be in the big leagues by 2028. If he can continue to improve and show strides, we could see him much sooner than that. The catcher position for the Padres is not their strong suit, but if they can retain Salas, then they could be set for years to come. 

The Friars may have struck gold with this 16-year-old.