'I'm up here just to be me': Salas embracing his role amid Padres' playoff push

CINCINNATI -- Sometime Monday night, Ethan Salas got the phone call he’s been waiting for his entire life -- the call letting him know he’d get to wear the Padres uniform he’s spent the past four seasons working toward. When he next dons his catching gear in a game, he’ll be the youngest backstop in the big leagues since Ivan Rodriguez in 1991.

So, after 20 years … what’s a few extra hours of waiting at the El Paso airport?

The Padres promoted Salas on Tuesday, as rosters expanded to 28 players. He’s their catcher of the future -- the club’s top prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 23 overall. But he’s not exactly their catcher of the present. For now, they envision him as a third-catcher type and a useful left-handed bench bat. General manager A.J. Preller called Salas with that news on Monday.

“It’s a cool phone call, one you dream about every single day as a kid working toward your dreams,” Salas said.

Even if his first day in the big leagues almost certainly didn’t go this way in his dreams. For one, the Padres lost Tuesday’s game in Cincinnati, 4-3. Additionally, Salas didn’t arrive until after first pitch. He scrambled to change into his new uniform. (No. 8, by the way.) Then, he emerged into the dugout for the top of the third inning.

Salas slowly made his way down the dugout railing, greeting his new teammates. He’s played with most of them, either in Spring Training or in the Minor Leagues. It was still a strange place for those greetings.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Salas said a couple hours later. “But it’s been pretty cool. Got the call last night, and I was on a plane this morning. It’s been a long travel day. Just happy to be here with the boys.”

After a day like that, manager Craig Stammen wasn’t about to ask Salas to make his debut in a tight game in a tight playoff race. Salas’ name was on the lineup card. But even as the Padres depleted their bench, Stammen opted to stay away from his newest amenity. (Had the game gone to extras, Stammen acknowledged, Salas would’ve been the next pinch-hitter.)

That was fine with Salas.

“The end goal was never to make it here,” he said. “It’s obviously to stay.”

The Padres think there’s a good chance he might stay a while. They signed him as the top prospect in the 2023 international class, envisioning him as their catcher of the future. Immediately, they heaped praise on him and touted his ceiling. They pushed him quickly through the Minors.

But Salas’ trajectory was anything but a straight line. He struggled mightily as one of the youngest players in the upper levels of the Minors. He lost nearly his entire 2025 season to a back injury.

“It’s not easy to make it to the Major Leagues,” Stammen said. “It’s not easy to have that much fanfare or that much attention put onto somebody at that age -- and then still be able to perform. … He’s had a great season this year. He’s earned it. And that’s probably the coolest part about it.”

Salas, always an excellent defensive catcher, was hitting .296 with an .822 OPS between Double-A (72 games) and Triple-A (24) this season. He says there are no specific keys to his success this year. Other than being healthy, of course.

“[I’m] playing more baseball,” Salas said. “Enjoying the game more. Finding these little things in the game where you kind of just go into the flow state and you just enjoy the game every single day. I think that’s brought a lot of success.”

Now, Salas is entering the thick of a playoff race. There are only 23 games remaining, and the race for the final Wild Card spot in the National League is as tight as it’s ever been.

“It’s exciting,” Salas said. “No added pressure. Just go out there and do my best to win every single day. I think that’s the mindset everywhere. I don’t think anything changes.”

The Padres are determined not to ask too much of Salas. He’s a highly touted defensive catcher. Still, there’s a reason no one has played the position in the big leagues at such a young age in 35 years. It’s a lot to take on.

Salas won’t be the Padres’ everyday option behind the plate. But he’ll catch occasionally. He’ll pinch-hit here and there. He might start at DH against right-handed pitching -- a clear need, given the recent injuries to Gavin Sheets and Luis Rengifo.

But Salas isn’t thinking of his role in those terms. He’s thinking of his role thusly:

“I’m up here just to be me,” Salas said with a smile. “And keep helping the team win.”