Call it a belated birthday present for Ethan Salas, who is doing things on a professional stage at an age when most kids are preparing to graduate high school.
Competing in just his sixth game for Single-A Lake Elsinore, MLB Pipeline's No. 86 overall prospect connected on his first career homer in the seventh inning of a 6-5 loss to Fresno on Tuesday night at Chukchansi Park. The two-run jack also accounted for the first RBIs of Salas' career, which began with much fanfare on May 30.
The No. 3 Padres prospect was hitless entering his fourth plate appearance in the top of the seventh inning. With the Storm holding a 2-1 lead, Salas turned around a 1-0 fastball and sent it over the right-center-field fence for a two-run jack. The long ball snapped a relatively brief skid for the lefty-swinging catcher, who had one hit in his previous 14 at-bats after going 4-for-5 with a double and three walks in his first two games.
Salas is slashing .300/.481/.500 in his first six contests, walking an impressive seven times in 27 total plate appearances.
Born in Kissimmee, Fla., but signed out of Caracas, Venezuela for $5.6 million during the opening of the 2023 international signing window, the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder has been Lake Elsinore's designated hitter four times since he debuted, with the organization understandably bringing him along slowly behind the plate.
Salas, who turned 17 on June 1, became just the third player since 2018 to play in Single-A in their age-17 season, joining No. 4 Padres prospect Samuel Zavala (2022) and Angels' No. 12 Nelson Rada, who did so this year.
Salas is more than four years younger than the average age of California League players.