It's truly starting now for Ethan Salas, the teen catcher with a $5.6 million international signing bonus inked by the Padres, the largest among Major League Baseball's 2023 class.
Until this moment, Salas was an abstract of a baseball player. Scribbled to life in the notebooks of far-flung scouts. Dissected on back-room draft boards. Plugged into the analytics-dicing thinking that rules modern baseball.
The Padres are banking — literally, given that he received 96.1 percent of the franchise's signing pool cash — on the player who blossomed in Venezuela with more tools than a Home Depot.
Start with this eye-opener: Salas, now lacing up for the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm, became the first 16-year-old to play professionally for a full-season affiliate since Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias in 2013.
There's a real-world measure of the future taking shape now, though, for the teen and Padres, an organization starved for a well-rounded weapon of a catcher.
"Yeah, a couple times," Salas said of being recognized in public despite only blowing out cake candles for his 17th birthday two weeks ago. "Like at Target, at the gas station, going out to eat, that type of stuff."
Salas seems unruffled by what surely is coming his way, health pending, by leaps and brisk bounds as he begins the climb on baseball's ladder. His muted confidence is revealed in the way he strolls to the plate. Instead of cockiness, however, he displays bedrock focus.
In a short conversation, he mentioned the crucial importance of being a professional in all aspects his potential rocket-ship ride multiple times. His mature approach to the game undoubtedly was mined from his father and brother, a grandfather and uncle, all who who played in the minor leagues.
"This is my life," said Salas, when asked why he's where he is so soon. "This is all I do all day. Baseball isn't only skills. You have to have a good makeup and be a professional. A lot of 16-year-olds are either in the Dominican or rookie ball in Arizona. I think I'm here because I've shown that, like, I'm a man. I know how to behave, on the field, off the field. I'm a leader."
An old baseball soul, sporting a youthful and patchy moustache.
Actor Chris Reed, a San Diegan best known for his role on the hit show "Sons of Anarchy," watched Tuesday night's game with his son. Each time Salas walked to the plate, he paid rapt attention.
"When you hear the kid talk, it's incredible," said Reed, who's also a host on the Padres Hot Tub podcast. "It's like he's 30 years old. Not just the maturity, but he's bilingual. To have the head on his shoulders that he does at 17, the potential is pretty crazy. I'm not sure I've seen that in my lifetime."
Longtime Storm fan Eleazar Razo Jr. has watched more than a decade's worth of players come and go. He has been awed by the power of sluggers Hunter Renfroe and Jorge Oña. He calls former Padres player Luis Urias, an infielder with the Brewers, a friend.
Salas' wise-beyond-his-years component strikes him, as well.
"He's wow-wow, in terms of his maturity at that age," Razo said. "He doesn't look 17 to me. Just the way he acts. At that age, I was going to parties with girls or whatever.
"I think this kid really could be it."
Lake Elsinore, to some, would seem like a humble spot to begin even though it signals an historically accelerated start for the Padres. Outfield signs include a Mexican restaurant, a pipe and supply company and a plea to "Explore Menifee!"
On Tuesday, maybe 1,000 fans sat in the stands.
In reality, it's Salas' launch ramp for a career expected to leave fingerprints all over the franchise. Entering Wednesday, Salas was hitting a modest .214 with a home run, double and four RBIs in 42 at-bats.
That's of little concern, given that he's adjusting to professional baseball against men in their 20s. For now, it's about finding his footing and learning the check-cashing ropes. It's about polishing team-building skills as much as the bat-and-ball kind.
Salas isn't worried about the small sample size. In fact, it's the opposite.
"Go out there and win a World Series," Salas said of the impact he hopes to make. "Climb the system as fast as possible and hopefully be a staple there for a long time. Whenever I'm ready, whether it's 19, 20, 21, I'd love to be a part of that."
If Salas one day takes baseball by storm, it will have started with the Storm.
"I don't really take pressure as something like, I'll have to do this, I'll have to do that," he said. "Just go out there and do what I know how to do, every single day."
The clock begins now.
