PEORIA, Ariz. -- The season is meant to be measured in growth. In many ways, Ethan Salas has been just trying to get back to equilibrium. He appears to be getting there. Need proof? Look at one statistic in particular.

¡°I¡¯ve been like that my whole life ever since I was little, I was really more of a doubles guy,¡± Salas said. ¡°[I hit] a lot more doubles than I ever did homers. I showed that toward the end of the year. I¡¯m just getting back to me.¡±

Ranked as the top prospect in the Padres system and No. 19 overall in the sport, Salas is following up a perplexing second full season in the Minors with a stint in the Arizona Fall League, and he's bringing ample momentum to the Peoria roster.

From Aug. 1 through the end of the season with Fort Wayne, he tied for High-A lead with 12 doubles in 32 games, joining No. 2 overall prospect Walker Jenkins (Twins) and Justin Johnson (Royals) on top of that list. In Monday's 5-3 loss to Glendale at the Peoria Sports Complex, the left-handed slugger went 2-for-5 in his second two-double performance in his last three Fall League games.

The 18-year-old catcher drove the first pitch he saw from Glendale right-hander Jose Acuna (Reds) -- an 87 mph cutter up in the zone -- out to right-center field for his first knock in the first inning. Three frames later, Salas fell behind 0-2 to righty Christian McGowan (PHI No. 22) before flicking a 1-2, 95 mph fastball the opposite way for another double, this time to left-center.

Two different gaps, two different counts, two doubles.

¡°I¡¯m shooting for the big part of the field,¡± he said. ¡°Not always trying to swing for the fences. Trying to hit it where it¡¯s pitched, put a barrel on the ball and good things happen.¡±

Following Monday¡¯s game, Salas ranked second in the Fall League in doubles with four, trailing only Peoria teammate and fellow Top 100 prospect Colt Emerson (six), while sitting tied for fourth in total bases (13) through five games. More to the point, he¡¯s 6-for-22 (.273) with five of those hits going for extra bases, leading to a .591 slugging percentage.

The Fall League is still very much in small-sample territory, but compare this to where Salas sat three months ago.

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.

If there¡¯s a skill that has been better from beginning to end in 2024, it¡¯s Salas¡¯ efficiency at slowing the opposing run game. Known for his impressive defensive acumen since his days as an amateur, the Venezuela native threw out just 16.7 percent of attempted basestealers in his first full season, but that jumped to 27.7 percent this year in Fort Wayne. The Midwest League average was 22.8.

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¡°I think it was just an intent thing,¡± Salas said. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to look so pretty when I¡¯m throwing to second or trying to be so smooth or too fast because sometimes you try to be too fast trying to get the fastest pop time off. I think just getting a quality clean transfer off and your best accurate throw helped me a lot.¡±

Salas nabbed his first two Fall League basestealers Monday as Glendale ran on him and Peoria pitchers seven times. With his confidence up across the board -- both at and behind the plate -- the Padres wunderkind has a message for the rest of the Fall League.

¡°If you want to keep running, keep going,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m going to keep throwing. I¡¯m going to keep putting quality throws on the bag.¡±