When Salas was struggling, the best hitting advice came from the Padres skipper. “Mike Shildt actually told me to just get lost in the competition,” Salas said. “Get lost in the competition, have fun with it and enjoy it. That put me in perspective because I was going through a rough period.
From April 5-July 11 (Salas’ last game before heading to the All-Star Futures Game in Texas), the backstop hit just .197/.300/.280 with one homer and 17 extra-base hits through 69 games for Fort Wayne. In July, the Padres sent Salas to San Diego to work with Major League assistant hitting coaches Mike McCoy and Pat O’Sullivan in hopes of a reset. The best piece of advice he received, however, might have come from the Padres skipper.
“Mike Shildt actually told me to just get lost in the competition,” Salas said. “Get lost in the competition, have fun with it and enjoy it. That put me in perspective because I was going through a rough period through the year.
“On the hitting side, it was ‘use my leverage, use my length and stay tall’ because I’m a good hitter. I don’t really need to change that much stuff.”
The results really clicked in August when Salas posted a .737 OPS (100 points higher than any other month in 2024) and a 109 wRC+, proving he could be above league average even when he was four years younger than the average Midwest Leaguer.
Shildt is a great manager, to this fay I have no idea why the Cardinals let him go, but I am glad Prellar landed him
This kid is gonna be a beast when he gets his grown man strength. It’s gotta be brutal being such an underaged catcher tbh. The wear and tear on the body when you aren’t fully physically matured for it has gotta be tough.
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From April 5-July 11 (Salas’ last game before heading to the All-Star Futures Game in Texas), the backstop hit just .197/.300/.280 with one homer and 17 extra-base hits through 69 games for Fort Wayne. In July, the Padres sent Salas to San Diego to work with Major League assistant hitting coaches Mike McCoy and Pat O’Sullivan in hopes of a reset. The best piece of advice he received, however, might have come from the Padres skipper.
“Mike Shildt actually told me to just get lost in the competition,” Salas said. “Get lost in the competition, have fun with it and enjoy it. That put me in perspective because I was going through a rough period through the year.
“On the hitting side, it was ‘use my leverage, use my length and stay tall’ because I’m a good hitter. I don’t really need to change that much stuff.”
The results really clicked in August when Salas posted a .737 OPS (100 points higher than any other month in 2024) and a 109 wRC+, proving he could be above league average even when he was four years younger than the average Midwest Leaguer.
Shildt is a great manager, to this fay I have no idea why the Cardinals let him go, but I am glad Prellar landed him
This kid is gonna be a beast when he gets his grown man strength. It’s gotta be brutal being such an underaged catcher tbh. The wear and tear on the body when you aren’t fully physically matured for it has gotta be tough.