Alex Swenson scouts 16-year-old catcher Ethan Salas, who signed with the San Diego Padres for $5.6 million. At 6'2
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Hey, how you doing Alex? Here, let's talk about and watch some video of this 16 year old Ethan Salas who just debuted in the MLB spring training playing with other MLB players in minor league of players and he's at the catching position which is a really big deal because of all the complexities that you have to do really, really well to play at this high level. And he is 16. Just amazing. I'm so excited to watch his career through the minor leagues and through the minor league ranks and hopefully get to the mlb. It is likely a lot of the scouts that I've talked to and have read about is like this is a once in a generation type of player. So really excited to show you him and he's kind of been under the radar honestly and I guess it a little makes sense. So rewinding a little bit. He just signed with the Padres back in January in the International MLB draft for $5.6 million to the Padres. So super excited for him. He actually was born in the MLB but grew up in Venezuela and he has some bloodline in a lot. I think his grandfather and his dad played in the minor leagues and so it's, it's exciting. And he is advanced. He is. That's probably the best word I can use for him. He, he is advanced. He is 6, 2, 185 and just a physical specimen and an athletic projectability. Everything that you're looking for from a scouter's standpoint, he has it. He's a left handed hitting catcher and catcher is one of the most sought after positions. And by the way, if you're new to my channel, my name is Alex Swenson. I'm a former Division 1 college coach, Scout and recruiter. And now what I do is help high school baseball athletes go through this college recruiting process and help them find the best college fit. But I had to bring up Ethan because he would be a junior in high school right now and he's in the MLB spring training and again playing with like Tatis and all those guys, which is just really cool. But with that said, I want to pull up his video here of him catching. And most catchers get held back because of the receiving. Okay. Because when you play at a higher level in that minor leagues and the big leagues, these pitchers are just so good. The velocity so much but their velocity and movement and a lot of guys can't handle the that. And Ethan is 16 handling this. So let's watch him here. I'm going to press play and just watch him handle this lefty who can be tough, handled that hard pitch to catch. Receiving is just again really, really advanced. Makes that pitch which is really difficult. Look in that one too. Those balls are probably down, but he gets umpire to call them strikes. This is the art of receiving. Just very, very good here. Receiving again, looks like a veteran back there. I mean just really, really advanced. And let's take a look at him hitting as well because he got in that bat in the minor league game. And lefty again looks physical kind of from a scouter's eye watching him, looks comfortable. This is nice. A 20 count, aggressive both down and in, but hit that ball hard. Obviously the second baseman didn't handle that well. Hit it really, really hard and got down the line. He can run really, really well. But I usually talk about just recruiting and college baseball and high school baseball, but had to bring up Ethan here because he's honestly kind of under the radar right now and wanted to bring some light to him and hopefully you can watch him through his minor league and hopefully a professional career. So I looked this up too. He is probably, if not one or he is the youngest player to ever debut in an MLB spring training game. He will not be the youngest in the MLB. There's been a lot of 16, when I say a lot, probably 10 or so 16 year olds that played in the MLB but back in the 40s, way back in the day, but in the modern era. Some of the earliest is like Bryce Harbour at 19, Ken Griffey Jr at 19, Juan Soto at 19. So he's definitely projecting on that track and reading some reports, talking to scouts is they're expecting him definitely to be in the MLB by 20 and could definitely meet that mark at 19, maybe even earlier. We should see. But if you get anything from this video, please smash that like button that thumbs up and subscribe to my channel. You might be listening on the podcast or watching on YouTube. Go on and subscribe. I put out a weekly episode on recruiting and high school baseball and college baseball and helping you get to the next level. See you in the next video. Take care. Bye.
