Baseball America unsurprisingly keeps Padres’ De Vries and Salas among Top 100 prospects

Baseball America has revealed their updated top 100 prospects list, and there are two Padres on the list. To nobody's surprise, Ethan Salas and Leo De Vries made the ranking, as they do for just about every list for top farmhands around the league.

Ethan Salas

Salas was signed by the Padres in 2023, and the catcher is still just 18 years old, already playing in Double-A. However, his prospect status has taken a hit by Baseball America, as they ranked him at No. 47 on their list. That's nearly 20 spots lower than the No. 28 ranking he holds from MLB Pipeline.

In fact, Baseball America includes Salas as one of their seven prospects facing early concerns. That's probably because the 18-year-old is slashing - entering May 9 - .188/.325/.219 in Double-A in the early going. While he has only played 10 games this year, the early returns are not encouraging, especially considering Salas did not have a great slash line in Single-A last year, where he batted .206/.288/.311.

The good news is that there is still plenty of time for Salas to improve. He's young enough that he could be on this list for quite a few more years, and even with early setbacks, Salas will likely debut in the majors before his 21st birthday.

Leo De Vries

De Vries, on the other hand, continues his rapid rise towards the top of prospect boards. He's now ranked No. 7 by Baseball America, eight spots of ahead of his MLB Pipeline ranking.

De Vries was the top ranked international prospect last year and has looked the part so far in the Padres minor league system. The 18 year old is slashing .308/.402/.560 at High-A Fort Wayne, entering May 9. He has combined power, speed, and average, with four home runs, five doubles, three triples, and three stolen bases. He's driven in 21 runs, walked 15 times and scored 18 times.

The only hole in De Vries game is his defense. He has already committed nine errors this season, and early on, it looks unclear if he will be able to handle shortstop long term, especially at an MLB level.