Ethan Salas Locked Up 2027. Now the Padres Have to Decide on Luis Campusano

The most interesting thing the Padres did in September wasn't winning a Wild Card Series. It was handing the catcher's job to a 20-year-old and letting the baseball world watch him grow up in real time.

Ethan Salas got 16 games and 39 at-bats down the stretch, and the raw line — .256/.275/.462 with two homers, a triple, five RBI and six runs — reads like a preview trailer. On Sept. 16 he became the youngest catcher in MLB history to post a multi-homer game. He then started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Cubs and, per ESPN, became the youngest player ever to catch a postseason game. San Diego swept that series before falling to Milwaukee in the NLDS.

The organization has already made its read. "Salas is a lock for next season's Opening Day lineup," per Gaslamp Ball's season wrap, and A.J. Preller has publicly discussed the catching depth behind him. That's the easy part. The hard part is what it does to a roster with four backstops and several holes.

The Case for Selling High on Salas

Before anyone engraves the plaque, look at the underlying numbers. Salas's expected batting average was .188 against an actual .256, and his expected slugging was .316 against a real .462 — gaps of 68 and 146 points, respectively. He drew one walk in 40 plate appearances against nine strikeouts. That's a 20-year-old riding a small sample and a hot week, not a finished hitter. He also posted a 1.86-second pop time on his tracked steal attempts, so the defensive tools are real even when the bat wobbles.

None of that is a knock. It's a reminder that a 16-game cameo is a trailer, not the film — and it's exactly why the Padres shouldn't treat Salas as a finished product when they build the 2027 roster.

Campusano Is the Interesting Chip

Luis Campusano quietly had the better season: .265/.363/.433 with eight homers, 30 walks and 1.73 WAR in 71 games, roughly league-average defense and a bat that earned him more October at-bats. His expected numbers (.239 xBA, .327 xwOBA) held up far better than Salas's.

With Salas, Campusano and two other catchers on the roster and needs everywhere else, Campusano is the most logical trade asset San Diego has — a controllable, productive catcher at a position where the market is always thin. That's the domino the Salas cameo set up.

The Rotation Is the Bigger Fire

Here's the thing: trading Campusano only solves a problem if the return addresses the rotation. And the rotation is a genuine concern.

• Michael King was the anchor: 33 starts, a 2.896 ERA, a 0.576 quality-start rate, and a 2.295 ERA over his last ten. He also made a relief appearance in October, which tells you how thin things got.
• Nick Pivetta was excellent in a 10-start sample (2.976 ERA, 10.63 K/9), but 10 starts is a sample.
• Randy Vásquez posted a 3.692 ERA in 23 starts while striking out just 5.46 per nine — the profile that always looks shakier than the ERA.
• Yu Darvish hasn't appeared in a game since Oct. 2, 2025 — 382 days as of this week — after a 5.548 ERA season.

The Padres won 91 games and cleared 90 for the third straight year, but the pitching staff ran on fumes by October. Add new ownership, a reported payroll squeeze and an offseason agenda that starts with starting pitching, and the front office has one summer to fix a rotation while deciding what a 20-year-old catcher is actually worth.

Salas made the future look bright. The Padres still have to pay for it in the present.