Ethan Salas plummeted 53 spots on Keith Law’s 2026 Top 100 MLB prospects list that was released by The Athletic, Monday. The 19-year-old catching prospect from Venezuela was the only San Diego Padres prospect to make the list, which is reflective of just how depleted the San Diego farm system is. Salas was the 17th ranked prospect on Law’s list last year, but a back injury caused him to miss most of the 2025 season. Law cited the injury and lack of looks as the reason for his decline, adding he is not giving up on the prospect.
Salas signed with the Padres as the top international free agent in 2023 and was projected to be the next big-name catcher based on his age (16) and defensive ability. Defense has never been a problem for Salas, although some think his value behind the plate will drop with the advent of the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) in 2026. It has been his offensive production that has raised concerns.
Salas played at three levels of professional baseball in 2023 with the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm, High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps and Double-A San Antonio Missions and compiled 290 plate appearances in 66 games. His ascent through the minors was aggressive and the thought at the time was the Padres wanted to challenge Salas and see how he would handle the higher level of play. He finished with a combined slash line of .248/.331/.421 with 63 hits, including 13 doubles, two triples and nine home runs for the year. Since that time, his offensive production has fallen off.
Salas spent the 2024 season in High-A Fort Wayne and made 469 plate appearances in 111 games. His final line was .206/.288/.311 with 85 hits, including 27 doubles, two triples and four home runs. The expectation was with more time at the lower level Salas would find comfort at the plate and develop offensive consistency that would allow him to continue his progression through the minors at a more realistic pace.
Despite a down offensive year in High-A, Salas started the 2025 season in San Antonio with the Double-A affiliate. He played in just 10 games and made 41 plate appearances before it was announced in May that he suffered a stress reaction in his lower back in the middle of April. Initially, Salas was expected to miss a couple months, but he did not play the remainder of the season. Salas finished with a slash line of .188/.325/.219 and recorded six hits with one double, no triples and no homeruns before the injury.
Based on the performance or lack thereof by Salas, it makes sense that he would have a dramatic fall in the prospect rankings. Salas is expected to be ready for Spring Training, and a healthy season could go a long way toward him re-establishing his value and surely that is what Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller is hoping for. If Padres evaluations say Salas is not going to achieve the potential he had when he signed with San Diego, Preller could use a bounce-back season from him to move Salas in a trade that would improve the big-league roster for the second half of 2026 or 2027.
He is still a teenager and Padres fans would hate to see Preller and the organization give up on the former top prospect too soon, but Salas may no longer be the untouchable farmhand destined for stardom that he once was. By the time all is said and done, he may just be another prospect who is moved in a Preller deal.
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