The wait for Ethan Salas is just about over. According to multiple reports, including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Padres are calling up the 20-year-old top prospect. Salas will join the big league club after a successful first month at the Triple-A level. In 24 games for El Paso Salas hit .326 with a .949 OPS. He racked up 11 extra-base hits, with just 10 strikeouts. He’ll join a catcher mix that has featured Freddy Fermin and Luis Campusano. When he starts behind the plate he’ll be the youngest MLB catcher since Pudge Rodriguez in 1991. Salas gives Craig Stammen’s club another left-handed bat, following injuries to Gavin Sheets and Luis Rengifo. The top prospect in the 2023 international class, Salas signed as a 16-year-old. There were trade rumors around Salas at this year’s trade deadline, but President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller elected to keep ahold of their prized catcher in the midst of a breakthrough season. “Just good to see him doing his thing on the baseball field,” Preller said. “What the baseball group and the baseball operations department has thought about him is super high for a lot of years now. He’s gone out there on the field and getting it done…We know what we have in Ethan.” Salas joins the Padres in the midst of a playoff push. After Monday’s 5-0 win in Cincinnati they possess the National League’s final Wild Card spot, just a half game ahead of Arizona. ...read more read less