The San Diego Padres have placed top prospect Ethan Salas on the injured list in a move that nobody in the organization wanted to happen.

The injury to Salas has been described as a minor oblique issue, but the team isn't taking any chances with its top guy. Salas' stay on the injured list was retroactive to June 18, and at least for now, he is expected to only be down for a couple of days.

Salas has seen a breakout 2026 season for the Padres in the minor leagues, so any type of momentum killer could be tough. Through 56 games this year, Salas has hit .282 with seven home runs and 33 runs batted in, while putting up an OPS of .784.

After the Padres made the trade for star closer Mason Miller last year, Salas became the face of the farm system. The team was very excited to see how he would perform this year following a season in 2025 where he battled through injury.

Salas missed most of 2025 with a back injury, and he completely dropped out of top 100 prospect rankings around the league. But with his performance this year, he has shot right back up.

After his down year, Salas made some adjustments to his swing, and it has made all the difference. The Padres have been encouraged by his development, and there have been calls for the team to move him up in the system.

However, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller made it clear that San Diego has no plans to bring Salas to the big leagues anytime soon.

"I think the great part with Ethan is he's had a really good start to the season. Everything that we've all seen from him in terms of super talented player that can handle a pitching staff, defend the position, swing the bat well — he's wired the right way, he wants to be really good, he asks all the right questions, all those things. We've seen with results, which is fun when all that comes together," Preller said on 97.3 The Fan.

"You start seeing the prospect rankings and now he's — miraculously a month later he's now towards the top of the prospect rankings. I think we all take it with a grain of salt. He's still a minor league player. He's still developing. The minor league group talked about it yesterday, there's still a lot of things that he has to do and check the box in terms of the development card. But he's got that type of ability, that one day down the road he's gonna help lead us."

The young catcher has been one of the bright spots for the organization this season, with his name being thrown into potential trade talks. This injury could end up playing into how the Padres' front office goes about the trade deadline, especially if the issue were to linger.

But for now, the Padres will hope for the best, giving Salas time to heal up. Oblique injuries can be tricky in nature, so the team won't rush him back until he is ready to go.

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