Friar Futures: Salas Keeps Mashing at Triple-A, Sanabria's Hot Month Rolls On
By Alex Martinez ·
Friar Futures covers the last 7 days of action for the Padres farm system.
Salas Catches a Rehab Start and Keeps Right On Hitting
Ethan Salas (AAA, C, Rank: 1) went 6 for 21 with a triple, four RBI, and four walks across 21 plate appearances at El Paso this week, including a three-hit performance in which he caught Joe Musgrove's rehab start. That kind of moment, a 20-year-old catcher running a big-league pitcher's session in Triple-A, says something about where the Padres see him. The broader Triple-A numbers are harder to wave off: over his last 30 days at El Paso, he is slashing .308/.378/.487 with three home runs, three doubles, a triple, and 20 RBI in 90 plate appearances. The strikeout rate over that stretch is 7.8 percent. For a catcher who just turned 20, that number borders on absurd. His contact rate over the full season sits at 85.9 percent on a swing rate of 44.1 percent, and in August at Triple-A that contact rate has climbed to 90.3 percent while the swing rate has actually dropped to 43 percent, meaning he is being more selective and making more contact simultaneously.
The scouting framework on Salas centers on a 70 field grade and a 60 arm as the carrying tools, with the bat projected to develop into a functional complement rather than a driver of value. What 2026 has added is real evidence that the offensive timeline is ahead of schedule. A 55 hit tool with a 13.3 BB% and a 9.5 K% at Triple-A, combined across 105 plate appearances, reads as a hitter who is not being fooled. The honest question heading into a potential MLB call is whether the power projection fills out enough to make him a complete offensive threat, because the combined line of .296/.374/.448 with 10 home runs across 405 plate appearances still leans more toward contact and on-base than impact. That is a survivable gap for a catcher of his defensive caliber, and if the gap closes even partially, he is looking at a legitimate everyday backstop who holds value at both ends. A late-season call to San Diego feels increasingly plausible.
Sanabria's Last 30 Days Have Been Something
Romeo Sanabria (AA, 1B, Rank: 14) went 7 for 22 with two doubles and four RBI this week at San Antonio, extending what has become the best month of his professional career. Over his last 30 days at Double-A, he is slashing .368/.443/.515 with seven doubles, one home run, and 15 RBI across 81 plate appearances. The contact rate has climbed to 84 percent over that stretch while the swing rate has dropped to 43.5 percent, down sharply from his season average of 47.7 percent, and the walk rate over the last 30 days sits at 12.3 percent with a strikeout rate of just 13.6 percent. Those are not the numbers of a hitter coasting through a warm spell; they reflect a real adjustment in selectivity and approach.
The context matters here. A contact bat with a 50 hit tool and first-base-only defense, Sanabria's entire profile depends on whether the bat stays consistent against upper-level pitching. His 2025 second-half fade at San Antonio and a rough Triple-A cameo earlier this year (a .200/.268/.307 line in 83 plate appearances at El Paso) both pointed toward the contact quality backing up when pitchers establish secondary pitches with more precision. What August has counter-argued is a swing rate that looks more like a disciplined hitter and a strikeout rate that suggests he is not getting beaten by spin the way he was. The season line at Double-A, .278/.374/.418 with a 12.8 BB%, is already the best walk rate of his career by a meaningful margin. Whether the second-half adjustment is real or a shorter zone of heat before pitchers find him again is the question that will define his offseason outlook. I'd bet on the adjustment being at least partially real, but he almost certainly needs a Triple-A run that holds before the projection conversation changes much.
Quick Hits
- Lamar King Jr. (A+, C, Rank: 21) · drove in six runs on six hits, including three doubles and a triple, across 17 plate appearances at Fort Wayne this week. He was sharp on August 27 specifically, lining a double to left that scored a run and adding a single later in the same game. Over his last 30 days, he is slashing .281/.339/.474 with six doubles, a triple, a home run, and 13 RBI in 62 plate appearances, his best sustained stretch of the 2026 season. The season line of .232/.328/.328 still reflects a significant contact-quality dip from his 2025 Low-A campaign (.286/.370/.408), and the 24.4 K% on the year is the number to watch. A 45 hit tool with playable receiving skills gives him a path to a bench catcher role if the contact ticks back up, and this week was at least a reminder of what the ceiling looks like when he squares up.
- Jagger Haynes (AAA, LHP, Rank: 8) · delivered 4.2 shutout innings against 17 batters this week, scattering three hits, walking one, and striking out five while generating nine swinging misses. It was his cleanest outing in a Triple-A stretch that has been considerably better than his season numbers suggest. Over his last 30 days at El Paso, he owns a 3.52 ERA across 23 innings with a 8.8 BB% and 17.6 K%, a meaningful step forward from the 5.90 ERA and 12.9 BB% that define his full Triple-A season. A 55 fastball from the left side with three average-flashing secondaries gives him a legitimate back-end starter look when the command is present, and the August version of Haynes has shown more of that. The 40 command grade remains the ceiling limiter, and the walk rate still needs to come down further, but the trend line over the past month points in the right direction.
- Garrett Hawkins (AA, RHP, Rank: 16) · struck out seven across 4.2 innings of one-run ball this week, generating 16 swinging misses while issuing just two walks. The strikeout rate is the part of his profile that has never been in question: over his last 30 days at Double-A, he is punching out 34.5 percent of batters faced, and his season K% at Double-A sits at 35.4 percent. The ERA at that level is 5.48 on the year, but four home runs in 23 innings explain most of the damage. A 60 fastball with a 55 sweeper gives him a legitimate two-pitch relief foundation, and the Double-A numbers say the swing-and-miss is genuine. The Triple-A experience this year (a 6.17 ERA with a 23.0 BB%) is the honest check on the ceiling: when the command loosens, the walks pile up fast. This week looked like the version of Hawkins that could stick in a major league bullpen.
- Tirso Ornelas (AA, LF, Rank: 9) · went 4 for 16 with a double, a home run, two RBI, and three walks in 16 plate appearances this week. He is a contact-oriented left-handed bat with a 50 hit tool projecting as a second-division regular or up-down piece, and the walk rate has been one of his carrying traits all year: 9.6 BB% on the season at Double-A. Over his last 30 days, the line reads .241/.333/.368 with two home runs and 12 walks against 19 strikeouts in 99 plate appearances, a patient profile that tracks with his swing rate of 43.5 percent over that stretch. At 26 with seven big-league plate appearances already on the ledger, the clock is ticking on whether he can translate the Double-A production to MLB, where the gap power will need to show up more consistently.
- Jose Verdugo (A, 2B, Rank: 15) · went 7 for 16 with three RBI and a walk across 16 plate appearances at Lake Elsinore, posting his best week of the season. He is an 18-year-old with a 50 hit tool and genuine feel for contact, and a contact rate of 83.5 percent over his last 30 days backs that up. The 34 stolen bases on the season also stand out for a teenager in full-season ball. The power grades at 40 and the projection sits at an up-down utility role, but the youth and contact skills give him more runway than those grades imply on the surface.
- Kasen Wells (A+, OF, Rank: 35) · reached base eight times in 29 plate appearances this week, going 7 for 25 with three doubles, a home run, and four walks. The season line of .264/.356/.319 with just two home runs in 443 plate appearances reflects a profile built on contact, zone control, and a 55 speed grade rather than impact; I'd take the over on his speed grade based on 23 stolen bases this year. Over his last 30 days, the strikeout rate has climbed to 25.2 percent and the contact rate sits at 74.4 percent, both trending the wrong direction. This week was a good one, but the broader August picture warrants watching.
- Lan-Hong Su (A, RHP, Rank: 18) · struck out seven across three clean innings this week, issuing one walk while generating 13 swinging misses. He is a 19-year-old with a 55 slider and a fastball that already touches 94 mph, and the last 30 days at Low-A have been genuinely encouraging: a 3.65 ERA across 12.1 innings with a 37.7 K% and a 5.7 BB%. The season numbers are messier (5.93 ERA at Low-A with six home runs allowed in 27.1 innings), and the changeup is still a 40 grade that needs development to keep him in a starter's profile long-term. But 13 swinging misses in three innings from a teenager is the stuff that keeps the projection alive.
- Francis Pena (AA, RHP, Rank: 23) · threw three innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out six without walking a batter. A 97-99 mph four-seam fastball paired with an average cutter and slider gives him a legitimate setup reliever foundation, and the zero-walk outing fits the recent trend: over his last 30 days, his BB% has dropped to 6.0 percent, well below the 14.2 percent on the full season. The ERA at Double-A sits at 3.23 through 53 innings, a respectable baseline for a 25-year-old reliever with command questions. If the walk rate holds near its August level, the ceiling conversation gets a lot more interesting.
- Ryan Wideman (A+, OF, Rank: 11) · was placed on the seven-day injured list on August 27; no diagnosis has been confirmed. He had not appeared since August 23, and the two weeks before the IL move were rough: 4 for 32 with five strikeouts across 36 plate appearances. The gap in production between his Low-A campaign (.314/.389/.504 with 43 stolen bases in 299 plate appearances) and his High-A stint (.246/.292/.267 with zero home runs in 202 PA) is the larger story, and the IL placement adds another interruption to what has been a difficult adjustment to Fort Wayne.
- Tucker Musgrove (AA, RHP, Rank: 25) · landed on the seven-day injured list on August 25; no injury has been confirmed. He had last pitched on August 15 and was sharp at Double-A before the move (2.93 ERA in 15.1 innings at San Antonio), which makes the timing worth monitoring as the season winds down.