Ethan Salas fast track will back up to high Single-A Fort Wayne to start the 2024 season.

The assignment does not necessarily run counter to the Padres aggressively pushing the 17-year-old catcher to Double-A San Antonio last year months after he signed for $5.6 million as the games top international prospect.

While the industrys eyebrows were raised last summer after Salas moved from low Single-A Lake Elsinore to high Single-A Fort Wayne to San Antonio before late August, Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller explained the progression as an opportunity for Salas to get on the same page with a group of prospects Jackson Merrill, Graham Pauley, Robby Snelling, etc. that were establishing themselves as the Padres next wave of homegrown talent.

The promotion, Preller said then, would not prevent the organization from backing up Salas to start the 2024 season, nor did it mean the Padres were looking to have Salas knocking on the door to San Diego this season.

It was a circumstantial promotion that allowed the Padres to begin to get an idea of what they have in Salas, one that was cut short by a knee injury. The organization continued to demonstrate a willingness to test the young catcher with an invitation to big-league camp this past spring, yet another opportunity for Salas to advance his education alongside a core group the organization expects him to join in the not-too-distant future.

But for now, Salas is returning to Fort Wayne to start 2024.

Ranked No. 8 in MLB.coms top-100 prospect list, Salas was 2-for-9 with a double, an RBI and one walk against four strikeouts in eight Cactus League games this spring.

He hit .267/.350/.487 with nine homers in 48 games at Lake Elsinore to start his professional career. He played in just nine games at Fort Wayne (.472 OPS) before the aggressive promotion to San Antonio (.517 OPS).

Other top-30 organization prospects as ranked by MLB.com assigned to Fort Wayne include right-hander Dylan Lesko (4), outfielder Homer Bush Jr. (11) and left-hander Jagger Haynes (23).

The bulk of the Padres top-30 prospects will be heading to Double-A San Antonio, which has not yet announced its roster yet.

Opening day for San Antonio, Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore is this Friday. Triple-A El Paso began last Friday.