2023 International Reviews: San Diego Padres

Three Venezuelan catchers rank among the top 20 prospects in baseball. D-backs catcher Gabriel Moreno was a low-profile, $25,000 signing with the Blue Jays, while Diego Cartaya of the Dodgers and Francisco Alvarez with the Mets were both elite talents in the 2018 class.

Ethan Salas, the crown jewel of San Diego’s international class this year, stacks up well among the top 16-year-old international catchers ever signed, with the upside to jump into that premier group of minor league catching prospects within a few years. 

Top Of The Class

From the time years ago when scouts began tracking this year’s international signing class, Salas stood out as one of the elite players for this year. Since then, he has only continued to improve in every facet of the game, making him the No. 1 international prospect for many scouts and drawing rave reviews from pro scouts who have seen him already in Arizona for spring training. Salas’ polish isn’t surprising. He comes from a baseball family, including his brother Jose Salas, who signed with the Marlins for $2.8 million and is now one of the Twins’ top prospects. Ethan, 16, signed with the Padres for $5.6 million, the top bonus for an international prospect this year. While nearly every other top international signing will debut in the Dominican Summer League this year, Salas is staying in Arizona for extended spring training and will make his pro debut in the United States, with a chance he gets to Low-A Lake Elsinore this season.

Born in Florida and signed out of Venezuela, Salas is one of the best pure hitters among any international signing this year. He’s 6-foot-2, 180 pounds with a clean, compact swing from the left side, with a tight turn of the barrel that gets on plane early and stays in the hitting zone for a long time. It’s an efficient, adjustable stroke with a knack for staying calm and balanced with good rhythm and timing. That leads to a high contact rate in games with the ability to track pitches well and an approach geared to use the whole field, making him a high on-base threat. It’s a hitterish look from a player who has already shown the ability to hang in well against lefthanded pitching and barrel upper-level arms with premium stuff. Salas has maintained a hit-first mentality geared to spread line drives around the field and drive the ball to both gaps, but his power has also ticked up over the past year. He’s more doubles-oriented in games, but he has shown the ability to drive the ball out of the park from center field over to his pull side in games, so by the time he hits his prime, he could have average or better game power.

With a chance to hit toward the top or middle of a lineup, Salas would be a good prospect if he were a corner outfielder. What makes him even more of a special talent for his age is that he has all the attributes in place to develop into a plus defensive catcher. Salas is an outstanding defensive catcher for his age, with the ability to block, receive and control the running game in ways that are outstanding for his age. He’s loose and flexible to get into a good receiving position with soft, quiet hands to steal strikes. His experience catching veteran pitchers last winter in the Venezuelan League was evident in spring training, when he caught major league pitchers and looked like an upper-level catcher. Salas has a slightly above-average arm that should turn into a plus or better tool as he layers on more strength. His quick, efficient transfer enables his arm to play up and get pop times under 1.9 seconds in games at his best. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Salas has already made a strong impression on veteran pitchers he has caught in Venezuelan winter ball and with the Padres for his cerebral mentality, ability to build relationships with pitchers and have advanced conversations about calling games well beyond his years. 

Names To Know

We typically use this section to highlight players who signed for six-figure bonuses. However, with the way the Padres used their bonus pool money this year, Salas is the only player they signed for more than $100,000.

With a bonus pool of $5,825,000, the Padres spent $5.6 million on Salas, leaving them with $200,500 for the rest of their pool (players signed for $10,000 or less are exempt from the bonus pools). They spent all but $500 of their full bonus pool within the first few days of the international signing period opening on Jan. 15.

While everyone other than Salas was a lower-money signing, the Padres have still signed nearly 30 players in their class, with a handful of intriguing sleepers worth monitoring this year when they debut in the Dominican Summer League.

Sleeper Watch

Gustavo Marquez is an 18-year-old Dominican outfielder signed for $10,000 with the tools and athleticism for center field. He’s a lean 6 feet, 160 pounds with plus speed and drives the ball well from the right side for someone with his wiry frame.

Righthander Jesus Rios, 21, was pitching for Mazatlan in the Mexican League before signing with the Padres for $10,000. He’s 6-foot-1, 190 pounds with solid pitchability, a fastball up to 95 mph and a chance for an above-average slider. 

Kevin Hacen, 17, signed for $20,000 as a physical 6-foot-4 third baseman who sticks out for his size and power potential. It’s an aggressive offensive approach with a power-over-hit profile and a chance for plus raw power to go with a plus arm.

Righthander Yoniel Prats signed for $10,000 at 18 and doesn’t have knockout stuff now but has a starter look between his easy mechanical operation, ability to throw strikes and considerable physical projection left 

Dominican lefthander Yovanki Pascual, signed for $40,000, is relatively older for an international signing at 20. He has been up to 95 mph, pitching in the low 90s with good arm speed to go with an upper-70s breaking ball that should eventually morph into more of a true slider in time.