Why Ethan Salas’s Postseason Start Would Make MLB Catching History
If Ethan Salas gets behind the plate in the National League Wild Card Series against the Cubs, he will become the youngest player ever to catch a playoff game in Major League Baseball history. The San Diego Padres have a 20-year-old catcher on their postseason roster, and they are prepared to use him in October.
MLB.com notes that Salas would be more than 100 days younger than Bob Didier, the Atlanta catcher who had held the record since the 1969 NLCS. More than half a century later, a young catcher with roughly a month of big league experience could erase it.
Catchers rarely get this chance at 20. The job goes far beyond hitting. A catcher controls the pace of a game, coordinates pitch sequences, blocks balls in the dirt, and must earn the trust of a pitching staff in pressure situations. Salas is being asked to do all of that in a short series where one mistake can end a season.
The Padres did not arrive at this decision casually. Salas opened his big league career 0-for-15, according to MLB.com, before finishing his first month in the majors 10-for-24, a .417 clip. His bat came alive at the right time, and San Diego gave him a spot on its postseason roster.
Why Youth Matters Behind the Plate
Salas had already made history before the playoffs. MLB.com reported that no player had caught a big league game at a younger age than Salas since Ivan Rodriguez did so 35 years earlier. That is a rare distinction, especially for a position that demands as much as catching does.
The postseason is a different test. Teams choose every roster spot with elimination in mind, and catchers are held to a higher standard because their decisions affect every pitch. A wrong sign or a misread swing can change a series.
ESPN reported that Salas is set to become the youngest player ever to catch a playoff game. Yahoo Sports listed him as the starter for Game 2 against the Cubs. Plans can change, but the Padres are clearly preparing to give him the assignment.
If Salas plays, he will not just be a young player making a cameo. He will break a record that survived for more than 50 years, and he will do it in a role where baseball usually waits for experience. That is why his next start matters as much as any result on the field.