Friar Futures: Salas torches Triple-A, Karpathios heats up in San Antonio
By Alex Martinez ·
The Catcher Is Coming: Ethan Salas Keeps Answering Every Question
Ethan Salas (AAA, C, Rank: 1) went 7-for-23 with two home runs, a double, seven RBI, and a walk across 23 plate appearances at El Paso this past week, and it is getting harder to find a reasonable argument for keeping him in the minors much longer. He is 20 years old, operating at Triple-A, and slashing .333/.419/.667 through nine games at that level. Those numbers sit on top of a .286/.361/.417 line across 72 games at Double-A San Antonio, where he posted a 48-to-33 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 300 plate appearances. Combined on the season, he is hitting .292/.368/.447 with nine home runs, 17 doubles, a triple, and 14 stolen bases, a profile that has outgrown every projection attached to it six months ago.
The scouting framework around Salas centers on a 60 arm, 60 glove, and premium receiving skills that already grade as a carrying tool, with the offensive development lagging slightly behind as expected for a teenage catcher making his way through the system. The power has been the persistent question mark, a 45 power grade attached to a contact-oriented swing that currently produces more doubles than home runs. Over the last 30 days at Triple-A, though, he is slashing .317/.421/.540 with two homers, six doubles, a triple, 12 walks, and only 17 strikeouts across 76 plate appearances, the cleanest and most complete stretch of his career. That walk total tells you the approach has not cracked under the pressure of better pitching. The Padres have roster decisions to make behind the plate at the big-league level, and Salas is making those conversations increasingly urgent. An everyday catcher with plus defense, a workable bat, and the plate patience he has shown in 2026 is what a contending organization builds toward. He may not need to wait much longer.
Karpathios Turns Up the Heat in a San Antonio August
Braedon Karpathios (AA, OF, Rank: 31) delivered his best week of the season at Double-A San Antonio, going 7-for-23 with four doubles, a home run, seven RBI, and five walks across 23 plate appearances. That production lands in a broader hot stretch: over the last 30 days he is slashing .316/.376/.539 with four homers and five doubles across 85 plate appearances, easily his most productive run at this level. The season line of .248/.338/.409 with 12 home runs and 50 walks in 411 plate appearances tells a more complicated story, one where elite plate discipline and above-average exit velocity coexist with a 127-strikeout total and a hit tool that grades at 40. The swing-and-miss against secondary stuff is real, and it caps the ceiling.
Still, this recent stretch is worth watching closely. The projection on Karpathios is a fourth outfielder or bench piece, a left-handed bat who can play all three outfield spots, punish mistakes, and work counts. The power has been legitimate this year: 12 home runs at Double-A after posting 12 at High-A a season ago, with an all-fields approach and exit velocity that scouts have graded well above the power number suggests. The concern has always been whether the hit tool can survive upper-level pitching consistently enough to make the rest of the profile matter at the big-league level. This week did not answer that question permanently, but the combination of five walks and four extra-base hits in the same stretch is the version of Karpathios the profile promises. He turns 24 in September, so the clock on Double-A is ticking, and a few more weeks like this one would make a strong case for a Triple-A look before the year is out.
Quick Hits
Eric Yost, RHP, Padres (AA, San Antonio) · #1030 · struck out six over 5.1 innings of one-run ball against San Antonio's latest opponent, a start that has defined his second half. The ERA at Double-A sits at 3.13 through 13 starts and 77.2 innings, and over the last 30 days he has been even sharper: a 2.66 ERA across 20.1 innings with 18 strikeouts and only seven walks. His plus curveball and sweeper are carrying the load, as the 45-grade fastball sitting 92-96 mph forces him to sequence rather than overpower. The Triple-A cameo earlier this season (3.1 IP, 5 ER) was a rough reminder of how thin his margin for error gets when the breaking ball is not landing, but the Double-A body of work since has been consistent enough to keep the back-end starter projection alive.
Gage Workman, 3B, Padres (AAA, El Paso) · #1220 · arrived in San Diego via trade from Detroit last week, going 1-for-3 in two big-league games before being optioned to Triple-A El Paso on August 9. He slashed .305/.366/.502 with 11 homers and 20 stolen bases across 363 Triple-A plate appearances in Toledo before the deal, a genuinely useful bat at the upper levels. The brief MLB stint with the Tigers this year (38 PA, .158/.158/.395) was rough, but the power showed up in two home runs. He gives San Diego a right-handed bat with positional flexibility and speed to sprinkle into the El Paso lineup while staying on the 40-man radar.
Joniel Hernandez, SS, Giants (RK, Santo Domingo) · #1168 · joined the organization in the Robbie Ray deal with San Francisco and went 7-for-15 with a home run across five rookie-level games in his new org, posting a .600 OBP in 20 plate appearances with only two strikeouts. That debut stretch builds on a .316/.439/.519 line in 197 rookie-ball plate appearances with the Giants, where he also added four home runs and six steals. He is a long way from relevance at the big-league level, but the early returns in a new uniform were clean.
Kash Mayfield, LHP, Tigers (A+, Comstock Park) · #196 · was traded to Detroit in the package that brought Casey Mize and Gage Workman to San Diego. Mayfield had posted a 3.54 ERA in 53.1 innings at Fort Wayne this season with 62 strikeouts and 22 walks across 15 appearances. He was one of the better pitching prospects in this system and his departure leaves a notable gap near the top of the left-handed pitching depth chart.
Michael Salina, RHP, Padres (A, Lake Elsinore) · #1036 · was promoted from the ACL to Lake Elsinore on August 5, his first assignment at full-season ball. He tossed a scoreless inning in his Storm debut. The ACL numbers were rocky (15.43 ERA in 2.1 innings across three appearances), so the move is likely about getting him consistent low-A innings rather than a sign of dominance, but it is a meaningful step for a high-ceiling arm learning the professional game.
Kavares Tears, OF, Padres (A+, Fort Wayne) · #938 · was transferred from the Fort Wayne 7-day IL to the 60-day IL on August 4, effectively ending his season at High-A. No specifics on the injury have surfaced publicly, but the 60-day designation removes him from any realistic return in 2026.