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Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country.

There has been plenty of discussion in recent days about the possibility of the San Diego Padres calling up their top prospect catcher Ethan Salas for the postseason push to close out the 2026 season. He has been drawing rave reviews since his promotion to Triple-A with the El Paso Chihuahuas.

In 17 games with the Chihuahuas, Salas has made 64 plate appearances and has recorded 23 hits, giving him a .359 average. Salas has three home runs, a triple, six doubles and nine walks. He has only struck out eight times and. Salas has also driven in 20 runs and scored 11 runs over that span. Salas is just 1-for-3 on stolen base attempts. His defense, which has always been what made him a valuable prospect, has continued to improve in the areas of pitch framing and throwing out runners, although he has allowed some passed balls.

The offensive performance of any prospect at the Triple-A level can sometimes be inflated due to the playing conditions in the Pacific Coast League, but that typically surrounds the power numbers and Salas has hit just three home runs. He has excelled at making contact and driving the ball. It is his offensive success with the Chihuahuas that has got media and fans thinking he might have success at the MLB level. Even Gaslamp Ball’s own Thomas Conroy published an article this week in which he made the case for why the Padres should bring Salas up to the major league roster.

The Gaslamp Reacts Survey poll question this week asked respondents what they thought about a possible promotion for the catching prospect and the majority think he should finish the season at Triple-A.

Not bringing Salas up to the majors might not be the exciting move, but it may be the more prudent move. In the event of a lockout after the CBA expires in December, the Padres organization could not communicate with Salas if he is on the 40-man roster and he would not be able to play in the minors. If there is a lockout and if it does extend into the season, it could be detrimental to Salas’ development. There is also the argument that San Diego should only add Salas if the intention is to play him. The stretch run of the season in which the Padres are fighting for a postseason berth may not be the best time for a 20-year-old catcher to make his MLB debut when you have two veteran catchers who have different strengths and skillsets already in place.

Salas’ time is coming, but the Friar Faithful do not think his time is now.

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The sun was out Saturday in The Bronx, but boy was it a dark day for the Yankees.

An afternoon that began with the revelation that Giancarlo Stanton had suffered a third calf strain of the year later transitioned to further bleakness, Ryan Weathers leaving the game with a trainer in the fourth inning.

Weathers threw a second-pitch sweeper to Toronto’s Myles Straw and immediately betrayed that something was wrong.

He looked awkward after the pitch and circled the mound as teammates called toward the Yankees’ dugout.

Manager Aaron Boone and a trainer approached, and after a short talk, Weathers exited with what the Yankees said was forearm discomfort. Weathers will get imaging done later today, the team announced.

The Yankees did not provide an immediate update on Weathers, who left trailing the Blue Jays 2-0 and who left enjoying what has been the best season of his career.

The lefty entered with a 3.56 ERA in 24 starts and pitching better as the season wore on.

The Yankees already are without the injured Max Fried, who threw a bullpen session Saturday.

Remaining in the rotation are Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Carlos Rodón and Will Warren.

The hits keep coming for the Yankees. 

New York has been ravaged by the injury bug of late, and now Ryan Weathers was forced to leave Saturday's start in the fourth inning due to left forearm discomfort.

Aaron Boone didn't have an update postgame, but Weathers is set to undergo further imaging. 

The young lefty was shaken up after throwing an 0-1 sweeper for a ball to Toronto outfielder Myles Straw. 

He took a few minutes after delivering the pitch, then, after a meeting around the mound, made his way to the dugout alongside the Yankees training staff. 

Ryan Weathers leaves the game with a Yankees trainer pic.twitter.com/OEQF4cy9YZ

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 22, 2026

Yerry De los Santos was called upon in relief.

De los Santos allowed Toronto to load the bases with two outs, but was helped out by Jazz Chisholm Jr. to escape the inning without further damage on Weathers' line.

The lefty saw his book close with just two runs allowed on eight hits while striking out three across 3.1 innings of work, but the elbow discomfort is certainly cause for concern.

Losing Weathers for a significant amount of time would be a blow for the Bombers, as he has been spectacular of late, entering Sunday with a 1.94 ERA over his last seven starts.

New York is also already without Max Fried due to a bone bruise in his elbow.

"You never want significant pieces to go down, but that's part of it," Boone said. "We're throwing the ball really well and expect to continue to do that -- if this creates an opportunity in the short term, we've had guys step up all year and we'll need to do it again."

The White Sox are one of the few AL teams to beat as the home stretch of baseball approaches, and a lot of the credit goes to Will Venable. The sophomore skipper has led Chicago to first in the division with a 67-61 record, giving him a huge leg up in this year’s AL Manager of the Year Award. 

But Venable can’t get too comfortable. Two games ahead of the White Sox are the Red Sox, who were 37-47 at the end of June, staring down the barrel of being the biggest disappointments this season but emerged as one of the strongest AL wild card teams since the All-Star break. And interim manager Chad Tracy is receiving high praise for steering the Bosox back into the playoff hunt. Kevin Cash’s unwavering first-place standing with the Tampa Bay Rays the AL East also makes him a formidable MOY frontrunner.

For Venable to win AL MOY, the White Sox must win the division. Here are three things the franchise and Venable can do to secure the AL Central.

Find a pitching diamond in the rough
The quickly-fatiguing pitching staff needs a boost. Since the beginning of August, Venable has been forced to get creative with his permutations of openers, starters and relievers. An arm is an to him, and how you pitch matters more than where in the game you pitch. Venable managed to squeak two wins from games played with only relievers on the bump, but the luck is starting to run out.

Chicago’s pitching needs a hero in September. Luis Castillo has been a stand-up starter since the trade deadline, but the White Sox need more, and there are two possibilities: Davis Martin or Drew Thorpe.

Martin needs to come back from his blistered finger looking like the early Cy Young candidate he was with a 8-1 record from March through May, with a 2.00 ERA, 71 strikeouts, 14 walks, and just three home runs allowed. He was a force to be reckoned with, with command and presence on the mound that made him look a lot older and wiser. Martin’s time off will hopefully be the reset he needs to finish the season strong.

Otherwise, Thorpe needs to be the pitcher’s version of Tristan Peters: An underrated and unexpected workhorse who emerges out of nowhere. Thorpe has been working his way back to Chicago, but timing his return and ensuring he’s ready to dive into the deep end will be challenging. Thorpe only has 22 innings under his belt since 2024, and began his recovery just over a month ago. And he was hardly an experienced hand before TJS, tossing only tossed nine inconsistent games before his injury. Expecting Thorpe to be able to keep pace sprinting while he’s still learning to walk is a tall order, but dropping a series to the Mets would warrant an expedited return. If Thorpe can give the White Sox at least three starts that last into the fifth while giving the team a chance to win, he’ll make a huge impact.

Eliminate silly mistakes
Venable can’t afford another embarrassing mistake. Despite some of his brilliant platoon and pinch-hitting decisions, his naïvité and newness to managing aren’t lost. His least forgiving misstep was losing track of the mound visits in an eventual 8-2 loss to the Guardians on August 7, which forced Noah Schultz off the mound prematurely.

A smaller but equally-costly error recently committed was not walking Pete Crow-Armstrong leading off the 10th of the first White Sox-Cubs game at Wrigley, with the score tied and PCA’s run having no meaning.

Despite his willingness to take responsibility for his poor decisions, Venable can’t afford another blunder.

Win more games than Boston
Evading a collapse as catastrophic as Detroit’s last year should be the top priority for Chicago. Getting a fair pitcher back and eliminating bad decisions will help, but Venable needs to win games, period. 

Chicago has five divisional series ahead of them, and it can’t be understated how important it is to win them. Winning at least eight of those 16 games is pivotal, although the standard should be much higher.

Also, Venable has to take the winnable games on the schedule. Excluding the Tigers and Guardians, the White Sox face four teams with a .500 record or worse. Winning 10 of those 15 games is table stakes. Setting the bar lower would not be MOY-worthy.

Together, those 18 wins should be enough to at least keep pace with Boston. But if Venable wants to win MOY and finish first in the second-easiest division in the league, he must come out on top of the Red Sox when all is said and done. If the Red Sox win more games than Chicago, Chad Tracy is the obvious MOY choice.

Yesterday, the Milwaukee Brewers became the first team to reach 80 wins with a 2-1 series-opening victory over the Braves and ace Chris Sale.

Things will get a little easier — although not quite easy — against Atlanta’s starting pitcher for today’s game, Martín Pérez. The 35-year-old Pérez doesn’t throw hard (89.3 mph average fastball velocity this year), but he’s hung around in the majors since 2012 thanks to his ability to limit barrels and induce ground balls. He’s having the second-best season of his career, with a 3.15 ERA and 133 ERA+, although — as you might expect from someone with that profile — his 4.14 FIP is quite a bit worse.

On the mound for Milwaukee will be rookie right-hander Logan Henderson, who has a 2.44 ERA through 17 career starts with the Brewers. Henderson has missed some time due to injury in each of the last couple of seasons, but when healthy, he’s been a revelation. He’s made 12 starts this year, pitching to a 2.70 ERA and an even-more-impressive 0.87 WHIP.

Before we get into today’s lineup, I wanted to share some news for those of you who haven’t seen it. When right-hander Brandon Woodruff left Milwaukee in late July, his plan was to undergo shoulder surgery, but his shoulder has reportedly shown remarkably unexpected healing, and his surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister, is no longer recommending surgery. Given the way Woodruff’s season has gone, it’s hard to fault anyone for not getting too optimistic just yet, but you never know. Even seeing him pitch out of the bullpen before the end of the year would be an unexpected — but pretty great — way for his season to end.

As for the lineup, no massive surprises today. Leading off will be Jackson Chourio, followed by Brice Turang and William Contreras, who went 4-for-4 with an RBI yesterday in a game the Brewers won by one run. Behind Contreras are Jake Bauers, the team leader in home runs with 22, and Andrew Vaughn, starting at first base with Bauers in right field. Rounding out the lineup are designated hitter Christian Yelich, third baseman Joey Ortiz, center fielder Luis Lara, and shortstop Cooper Pratt.

As usual, you can catch today’s game on Brewers.TV, WTMJ 620, and the Brewers Radio Network. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. CT.

The Braves could badly use a win Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.

They’re 1-4 on their four-game, seven-day road trip this week entering this 2:10 EDT game at American Family Field. The Phillies, meanwhile, have won seven straight games to trim the NL East lead to four games.

Atlanta hopes Martín Pérez (8-7, 3.15 ERA) can return to his normally solid form after a rocky start Monday at the Twins.

Milwaukee is starting rookie right-hander Logan Henderson (7-2, 2.70) in his first career appearance against the Braves.

Tune in on BravesVision, 680 or however you watch/listen to the Braves and see if they can force a rubber match in Sunday night’s series finale at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

Winning is nice. I like winning. Do you like winning? The Yankees have been winning.

With a victory in the Bronx last night, the Bombers have clinched a winning week, and will have two opportunities to make it a perfect week. Meanwhile, the Orioles, whom they just swept, bounced back to beat the Rays for the fourth time this week. That assistance from Baltimore has allowed New York to pull within three games of first place in the AL East.

The Yankees grabbed the initiative in the first of 10 games in this critical late-August homestand, finding more answers than the Blue Jays in a 3-1 win. Cam Schlittler wasn’t his absolute best, but still kept Toronto at bay while a hulking homer from Spencer Jones which just stayed fair proved the pivotal highlight. This Saturday afternoon will feature a familiar matchup on the mound as New York looks to take the series and get their revenge for last weekend.

I’m feeling some personal dèja vu from my last recap, which involved the Yankees playing the Blue Jays—with Ryan Weathers against Dylan Cease as the pitching matchup. That game, if you’ll recall, ended with the ever-so-rare extra-innings win on the road (despite a ninth-inning debacle) which kicked off the current five-game winning streak they find themselves riding. Ben Rice hit a huge two-run homer in the 10th inning to atone for his critical error the previous frame, and the Bombers escaped with a 1-2 split of that weekend’s battle.

Weathers and Cease both pitched brilliantly, but both ended with no-decisions. Cease left on the hook for the loss thanks to a booming double by George Lombard Jr. followed by an RBI hit from José Caballero (and a failed a Matrix choreography shoot). Weathers completed his sixth consecutive quality start with 7.1 innings of one-run ball, continuing his sensational second half. If he continues this roll and the bats meet him halfway, we could be looking at a breezy series win. We’ll see if the Jays have adjusted their approach from then.

It’s a day game after a night game, so there are some changes to announce from last night’s lineup. With the right-handed Cy Young candidate Cease on the hill, Aaron Boone’s card will look more familiar. Trent Grisham goes back to his leadoff spot ahead of Rice and Heliot Ramos. Luis García Jr. and Jones will bat ahead of Lombard in the middle third, then Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells, and third baseman Caballero pull up the rear. Hello Kitty will unfortunately not be able to come off the bench today.

For what it’s worth: the struggling Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was placed on the concussion IL the previous weekend, is back in the Blue Jays’ lineup. New Jersey icon Davis Schneider was optioned to make room. Guerrero has obviously played quite a bit better at Yankee Stadium than at Rogers Centre. It’s a shame the latter is his home ballpark.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Sportsnet, TVA Sports

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | SN590 THE FAN (TOR)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

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