Don’t look now, but Ethan Salas is starting to heat up.
A day after launching his first roundtripper of the season, Salas connected on his second home run in as many nights. Crushing a no-doubter in the bottom of the third during San Antonio's 5-4 loss to Amarillo on Saturday, the ball left the bat at 110 mph according to the in-house Trackman device, traveling well beyond the right-field wall at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium.
The homer marked the first of three times the Padres' No. 2 prospect would reach base as part of his 2-for-4 night, his third consecutive multihit performance.
His other knock had a little clutch factor to it. With the Missions down to their last strike in the ninth, Salas lined a game-tying RBI double down the right-field line. After hitting just .125 (2-for-16) to start the year, MLB's No. 10 catching prospect now has five multihit games in his past 10 outings. In that span, he has a .371 average with a 1.079 OPS.
COMPLETE PADRES PROSPECT COVERAGE
On Friday night, Salas went 2-for-3 from the leadoff spot, homering to one of the deepest parts of the park. Both his homer and subsequent RBI single came off the bat in excess of 105 mph, according to Trackman.
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The 19-year-old is still widely considered one of, if not the best, defensive catching prospects in baseball, as evidenced by his 70-grade fielding and 60-grade glove tools. He earns positive marks for his game calling and controlling of the run game.
If Salas is able to continue his recent reemergence at the dish, it could be a huge plus for a Padres organization that has seen 22 different catchers start at the big league level since 2016.