All eyes on newcomer Salas in Padres camp

PEORIA, Ariz. -- It won’t be public-facing for a while, but the Ethan Salas era has begun. And as much excitement as there is in big league camp with what the Padres hope to be a very successful 2023 season in the NL West, there’s a comparable, perhaps more private, buzz about their No. 3 prospect inching toward the start of his professional career.

Most might point to the Manny Machado extension as the biggest signing news leading up to the start of the season. Inking Salas, the No. 1 international prospect heading into the 2023 signing period that opened on Jan. 15, for $5.6 million, is right up there, at least on the international scouting and player development side of things. The bilingual backstop has already stood out in early workouts, from showing he can get to his raw power in batting practice to his ability to be a plus receiver. Born in Florida before moving to Venezuela, he comes from a baseball family that includes an older brother who is now a prospect with the Twins and two older generations who also played professionally.

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“I think oftentimes his English might be better than mine or yours,” said Padres assistant director of player development Mike Daly. “He’s super impressive, with the baseball family, his brothers, his dad, his grandfather. He's a talented player and a skilled player and a huge credit to our scouting group to identify him. I think the whole industry knew him, but to really dive in there with the family, get to know Ethan, the type of person he is. Excited is maybe a low term to have with him. We are very much fired up to have him here.”

Typically, a recent international signee would begin his pro career in the Dominican Summer League and age wise, that would make some sense, given that Salas doesn’t turn 17 until June. But he’s so advanced, both in terms of tools and his maturity, that Daly confirmed the young catcher will officially begin his career in the United States.

“He will start stateside, yes,” Daly said. “Where he starts, I think that's still TBD. He's here in camp now, not in Major League camp, but with our Minor League camp, our priority Minor League players.”

The Arizona Complex League will be the first stop along what the Padres hope will be a path to San Diego, but when Daly said “TBD,” it certainly made one pause. Could the teenager be so advanced the Padres send him to full-season Lake Elsinore?

“This is going to be all over Twitter,” Daly said with a laugh. “He will start stateside, but I don’t think that he will open up in Lake Elsinore. We're going to try and get him onboarded in the right way. I think that there's an opportunity that he plays at a certain level and does everything that we need him to do that, could he be at Lake Elsinore at some point during the 2023 season? I will put nothing past him.”

Camp standout: Brandon Valenzuela

Speaking of catchers, Salas isn’t the only one who has looked good early this spring. Valenzuela signed out of Mexico for $100,000 in July of 2017 and put himself on the prospect map in 2021, hitting .299/.393/.429 across two levels of A ball as a 20-year-old. A return to High-A in 2022 didn’t go nearly as well as the switch-hitter sputtered to a .209/.334/.348 line in 99 games. Rather than play winter ball in the offseason in Mexico, he instead focused on strength and conditioning to give him a kickstart for a bounce-back 2023 season.

“His body looks tremendous; he focused on getting in the best possible shape of his life,” Daly said. “He’s come into camp and he certainly looks that way. He kind of has that eye of the tiger look to come into the upcoming season and show everybody the type of prospect he is.

“For Brandon to not have the year he was expecting last year, it’s been an ignitor for him in the offseason. Our expectation is that he’s going to come out and have a big year.”

Something to prove: Jackson Wolf

The Padres’ No. 16 prospect, Wolf was an interesting senior sign in the 2021 Draft, getting taken in the fourth round and signing for a below slot bonus of $300,000. Though he’s 6-foot-7, Wolf is more about funk, deception and breaking stuff than he is about velocity. He had a solid first full season in 2022, striking out 10.1 per nine in High-A to earn a two-start callup to Double-A to end the year. He’s come to camp in terrific shape and has had a small uptick in the velocity, but he’s still in the upper-80s to low-90s. He wants to prove that his profile will work as a starter at the upper levels.

“He looks tremendous and he’s going to Double-A,” Daly said. “He throws strikes and has different pitches. He’s not talked about but he’s been about it in the offseason and he has something to prove up there.”

Breakout candidate: Jagger Haynes

Haynes snuck in to the Padres’ Top 30 this year, at No. 28, even though the 2020 fifth-rounder has yet to throw a competitive pitch. It’s really been since his junior year of high school because his 2020 senior season was wiped out by the pandemic. Then he had elbow issues that led to Tommy John surgery. He’s been throwing bullpens and will have his first normal Minor League camp this year, with the expectations that he’ll take his solid three-pitch mix -- a 92-94 mph fastball, a potentially above-average changeup and a solid slider -- to full-season Lake Elsinore on time. And it’s easy to dream that there might be more in the tank for the 6-foot-3 left-hander.

“For a guy that’s come through the adversity of the Tommy John, through the rehab program, I think he’s somebody that you guys will be talking about and Padres fans will be talking about here at the end of the season,” Daly said.