Padres Have Intriguing Catching Prospects Beyond Ethan Salas

[Steve Drumwright]

When Rodolfo Duran was called up by the San Diego Padres to replace injured catcher Luis Campusano a couple weeks ago, there were some who clamored for Ethan Salas to get the call instead.

After all, Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect, is the future of Friars backstops. In fact, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is on record from a recent radio appearance as saying that Salas could handle a major-league pitching staff right now. Salas' defense has never been a question. More so, it has been Salas' offensive ability, which helped make him the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 international free-agent class, that has been questioned.

After a good debut as a 16-year-old in 2023, the left-handed hitter's offense took a step back in 2024, where he had a .206/.288/.311 slash line with four homers and 53 RBIs with nine steals with the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps. Despite that production, the Padres kept challenging Salas and promoted him to the Double-A San Antonio Missions for 2025. But his season ended after just 10 games due to a stress reaction in his lower back.

This year, though, Salas has regained his offensive prowess. Through Thursday, Salas with slashing .299/.368/.496 with six homers, 24 RBIs and nine stolen bases. The Padres likely want Salas to continue to experience offensive success, which is why he remains at Double-A. A promotion to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas will come, perhaps by the end of June at the latest.

That also helped Salas jump up national top-100 lists after falling back in 2025. Baseball America has Salas at No. 22, while MLB Pipeline checks in at No. 52. At a premium position such as catcher, having one tremendous prospect is a boon.

But it doesn't end there for the Padres.

In fact, the Friars have more top-end depth behind the plate than any of the other 29 MLB teams. And that isn't even taking Duran into consideration since he is no longer a prospect after 11 seasons in the minors.

With Salas at Double-A San Antonio, the Padres also have key prospects at High-A Fort Wayne and with the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm. Those would be Lamar King Jr. at Fort Wayne, as well as Ty Harvey and Truitt Madonna at Lake Elsinore. Harvey is No. 7 on Padres Mission's Top 20 prospect list, King is No. 10 and Madonna No. 13.

Here is a look at the three prospects beyond Salas (all stats updated prior to this weekend's games):

Ty Harvey, Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm

A fifth-round draft choice in 2025 out of Inspiration Academy in Florida, the 19-year-old had a brief cameo with the Storm last year, appearing in seven games. This is his first full season in the pros, with that being interrupted by a quad injury that cost him three weeks from April 14-May 4. He recently rejoined the Storm, going 6-for-14 in his first four games following a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League.

Harvey has bounced between catcher and DH, even seeing a game at first base, just to get his bat into the lineup and with having two superb catchers at Lake Elsinore. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Harvey was drafted due to his power bat and his excellent arm. Those skills are what earned him a scholarship to Florida State, but the Padres gave him a $1.5 million signing bonus to pull him away from college.

His offensive skills have certainly been on display in his young pro career, with a slash line of .345/.465/.431 this year in 19 games. He has yet to homer, but does have five doubles, nine RBIs and five stolen bases. He has also shown patience at the plate by drawing 20 walks, although he has struck out 28 times.

The quad injury means that Harvey is likely to spend the entire season with the Storm, unless he hits his way to Fort Wayne.

Lamar King Jr., High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps

The 22-year-old is in his fourth season of pro ball after being drafted in the fourth round out of Calvert Hall College High School in Maryland in 2023. Most notably, he is the son of former NFL defensive end Lamar King, a first-round draftee who had 12 sacks in five seasons (1999-2003) with the Seattle Seahawks, so you can see where the younger King gets his 6-foot-3, 215-pound physique from. The Padres were able to pull King away from a commitment to Georgia Tech for a signing bonus of $502,800.

His draft profile was more of a power threat, but King has shown a keen ability to get on base and make contact, drawing 20 walks in 37 games with the TinCaps after 44 in 105 games in 2025 between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne. His career got off to a rough start with a concussion and dislocating his right (throwing) shoulder while sliding, which led to surgery that ate into his 2024 season. That shoulder injury has also led to speculation that King could be a better fit at first base. This year, he has thrown out six of 24 base stealers (25%) in 15 games behind the plate. He has also played first base in eight games and been the designated hitter 13 times.

King does have three homers to go along with a .258/.371/.391 slash line in 37 games. He has also stolen nine bases in 10 tries after swiping 21 in 24 attempts in 2025, during which he had a slash line of .274/.353/.384 with four homers and 44 RBIs in 105 games. His athleticism behind the plate makes him an attractive prospect, but needs more work behind the plate if that is where he is going to end up.

Truitt Madonna, Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm

Yet another physical specimen at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, the 11th-round draft pick in 2025 out of Ballard High School in Seattle signed with the Padres for $654,000 instead of going to UCLA. Madonna is more raw offensively than Harvey and King, but does hit the ball with power to all fields when he does make contact.

Madonna benefited from Harvey's injury to see most of the time at catcher and is second on the Storm with 12 doubles, while putting up a .271/.366/.421 slash line in 38 games with 27 RBIs and nine stolen bases in 13 attempts. He has struck out a lot, going down 47 times while drawing 21 walks. His 2026 has come after some time at the end of 2025 at Lake Elsinore, where he had a .185/.267/.278 slash line in 14 games with no homers and five RBIs. Had had six walks and 23 strikeouts.

He doesn't have a terrific arm and is a little more rigid in his movements, which puts him behind Harvey and King. But if he is able to solve his strikeout problem and if the power comes about, there is a possibility of a position chance (he has also played a bit at first base this year) to keep his prospect shine going.

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