Salas (back) is no longer slated to play in the Arizona Fall League, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Salas missed most of the 2025 season with a stress reaction in his lower back. It does not appear he has suffered a setback, but the Padres have decided to give the young catcher more time to heal rather than pushing him to play in the AFL. It's unclear whether Salas might play winter ball later this offseason instead.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Cleared for baseball activities
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Salas (back) was recently cleared to resume baseball activities at the Padres' spring training complex and will be one of the San Diego prospects who is set to participate in the Arizona Fall League, which begins Oct. 6., MLB.com reports.
Salas remains on Double-A San Antonio's 60-day injured list and doesn't appear in line to return to action over the final week of the Texas League season, but the young backstop looks like he could be ready to play at some point during the AFL, which runs through mid-November. Even if Salas hasn't progressed enough in his recovery from a lower back stress reaction to see action by the end of AFL play, he'll likely take part in winter ball to make up for the at-bats he lost out on this season. Salas' last appearance with San Antonio came back on April 17.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Cleared for baseball activity
Rotowire
Salas (back) has been cleared for baseball activities, but he may not be ready for game action before the end of the minor-league season, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Salas hasn't played in a game since April 17, so he'll need a lengthy ramp-up period and the Padres won't rush him back from this stress fracture in his back that was slower to heal than anticipated. Regardless of whether Salas makes it back before the end of the minor-league season, he'll likely play either fall or winter ball to make up for what has essentially been a lost season.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Slow to heal from back injury
Rotowire
Salas is healing from a stress fracture in his back slower than the Padres anticipated, and he remains without an official timeline for a return to game action, Kyle Glaser of the Foul Territory Network reports.
According to Padres team officials, Salas hasn't experienced any setbacks in his recovery from the injury, which initially forced him to Double-A San Antonio's 7-day injured list April 26. The 19-year-old backstop has been able to stay in shape by catching from a pitching machine and taking part in individual workouts, but he's not yet been cleared for rotational work. According to Glaser, Salas is unlikely to play again this season, but the Padres aren't officially closing the door on him being activated if he's able to make major strides in his recovery over the next few weeks.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Managing back injury in minors
Rotowire
Double-A San Antonio placed Salas on its 7-day injured list Saturday due to back spasms, MLB.com reports.
The Padres have deemed Salas' absence from game action as precautionary, and the 18-year-old has been swinging and throwing at the team's spring complex, so the back issue doesn't appear to be serious. Salas began the season with San Antonio and slashed .188/.325/.219 with five RBI, five runs, two stolen bases and a 6:5 BB:K over 41 plate appearances before being shelved.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Reassigned to minors camp
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The Padres reassigned Salas to minor-league camp Thursday, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Salas, 18, was a spring training invitee but always destined to return to the minors to begin the 2025 season. He's a gifted defensive catcher, but the top prospect slashed only .206/.288/.311 at High-A Fort Wayne in 2024, so he'll be looking to take a step forward offensively this season.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Collecting hits at High-A
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Salas is slashing .260/.302/.364 with eight doubles, zero home runs and a 16:5 K:BB over his last 20 games for High-A Fort Wayne.
Salas has a .206 average, .599 OPS and 75 wRC+ in 111 games for the Tin Caps, so this recent stretch qualifies as him heating up. The 18-year-old catcher makes for a tough evaluation, as he has elite pedigree and is extremely young for his level, yet he has produced at well below league-average levels ever since he was promoted from Single-A Lake Elsinore in August of 2023.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Re-assigned to minor-league camp
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Salas was re-assigned to minor-league camp by the Padres on Sunday, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.
Just being invited to big-league camp as a 17-year-old was an accomplishment in and of itself for Salas, who went 2-for-7 at the plate during his limited Cactus League opportunities. He's slated to begin the season at Double-A San Antonio after finishing there in 2023. The top prospect slashed .248/.331/.421 with nine home runs over 66 games across three levels last season.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Exits Saturday with knee issue
Rotowire
Salas departed Double-A San Antonio's win over Wichita after three innings Saturday due to right knee irritation, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Salas started behind the plate and went 0-for-1 before his departure. According to Sanders, Padres player development indicated that the initial evaluation of Salas was "very positive" and has labeled the 17-year-old as day-to-day. Salas has struggled since being promoted to Double-A on Aug. 20, slashing .179/.303/.214 with no homers over 33 plate appearances, though he continues to display good patience with a 12.5 percent walk rate.
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Padres' Ethan Salas: Powering up in Single-A ball
Rotowire
Over his past eight games with Single-A Lake Elsinore, Salas has slashed .400/.500/1.067 with five home runs, three doubles, one triple, 13 RBI and a 5:7 BB:K.
Salas got off to a slow start after being sent to full-season ball for his professional debut, and through June 28 he was batting .207 with just one homer. However, the promising prospect has taken off since then, justifying the organization's decision to have him skip ahead to Single-A rather than debut in the Arizona Complex League. Given Salas' development at such a young age (he turned 17 on June 1), the sky appears to be the limit for him, and dynasty managers who roster the backstop have every reason to be ecstatic about his potential as a future MLB star.
