AJ Preller Reveals When Padres Could Promote Ethan Salas to MLB

San Diego Padres top prospect Ethan Salas is making headlines in the midst of a breakout season in the minor leagues.

At Double-A this season, the catcher is hitting .303 with six home runs, 23 runs batted in and an OPS of .882.

There were concerns surrounding Salas' development after he missed most of 2025 with a back injury. The lack of exposure throughout last season caused the 19-year-old to drop out of the Top 100 list of MLB prospects.

.@BenAndWoods asked AJ Preller if the organization believes that Ethan Salas could handle a big league pitching staff right now: pic.twitter.com/BelKRtPpWS
— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) May 15, 2026

On Ben And Woods, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was asked whether Salas could manage an MLB pitching staff right now. The Padres executive said yes, while noting that the young catcher is still a ways from making his debut in the big leagues.

"Yeah," Preller said. "I think the great part with Ethan is he's had a really good start to the season. Everything that we've all seen from him in terms of super talented player that can handle a pitching staff, defend the position, swing the bat well — he's wired the right way, he wants to be really good, he asks all the right questions, all those things. We've seen with results, which is fun when all that comes together.

"You start seeing the prospect rankings and now he's — miraculously a month later he's now towards the top of the prospect rankings. I think we all take it with a grain of salt. He's still a minor league player. He's still developing. The minor league group talked about it yesterday, there's still a lot of things that he has to do and check the box in terms of the development card. But he's got that type of ability, that one day down the road he's gonna help lead us."

Salas joined the Padres this spring as a non-roster invite at big league camp, but was used sparingly. The catcher went 2-for-9 in his limited at-bats throughout Cactus League. It was clear the team felt he was a ways away from contributing at the MLB level.

Preller has earned a reputation for promoting prospects rather quickly with Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. being prime examples. However, in order for that to happen, the prospect must check off all the requisites in the minor leagues.

According to the Padres general manager, Salas has yet to do so.

The catcher should be an impactful piece for the Padres in the future, but for now, the organization believes he will be at his best in the minors as he continues to develop. The back injury in 2025 certainly derailed a good portion of Salas' progress, but he has bounced back in a big way and has found early success in Double-A.

He's also not even 20 years old yet.

As for the catching depth in San Diego, the Padres will rely on Freddy Fermin and 28-year-old rookie Rodolfo Durán at the moment. Luis Campusano will also be utilized once he returns from the injured list.

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