Padres Staffer Reveals Rationale Behind Quickly Promoting Ethan Salas to Double-A

The Padres love the upside of Salas.

Over the years, the San Diego Padres have built their farm system up to be one of the best in the league. They've drawn from it to either help propel them on the field, or help them trade for more talent.

It's been impressive to watch them build it, and some of their most exciting players haven't even touched the big leagues yet. One of those is catcher Ethan Salas, who was promoted to Double-A relatively quickly last season.

Salas is only 17 years old, but the Padres remain extremely high on his upside. San Diego assistant farm director Mike Daly broke down why the team decided to promote Salas so early into his career in a conversation with The Athletic.

“I think that you could definitely make a case that he could’ve stayed at Low A. You can make a case that he should have stayed at High A,” Daly said. “We ultimately made that decision to send him to Double A. Development is not linear. … I think we feel Ethan is a special talent who we feel has a chance to advance quickly in the system and has shown the capability of taking on challenges and handling them very well."



Per Mike Daly via The Athletic

The Padres are banking on him continuing to get better, and they want to see how he handles the pressure of the promotion. It's a win-win for the team, and Salas gets a chance to make his mark.

He had a .837 OPS in 48 games with Low-A Lake Elsinore, but a knee injury limited his time with Double-A. With him healthy now, the organization is very much looking forward to his new season.

“We did feel that he was starting to get a feel for Double A (before Salas sprained his right knee moving to block a ball),” Daly added. “He was not overmatched by that.”

Per Mike Daly via The Athletic

The 2024 season will be a big year for the young player as he continues to build his career. Salas has incredible talent, and now just needs to put it all together before he reaches the big leagues — which could be sooner rather than later.