There is something special about September. It’s not just that there are just a few weeks left to find out who will play in October. It is that mixture of emotion and melancholy that appears when a season begins to say goodbye. Each game weighs more and, at the same time, signs of what could come next begin to appear.
The expansion of the rosters to 28 players adds another ingredient to this last month. For many teams, September is the opportunity to look to the future and give a turn to young people who have been waiting for their moment for months.
Ethan Salas is one of them.
The Venezuelan catcher for the San Diego Padres, at just 20 years old, received the call to the Major Leagues after a good season in the minors. Beyond the numbers and expectations, its arrival represents something simple: an opportunity.
That’s September for many prospects.
Maybe they will have a few at-bats or a few innings behind the plate. But every opportunity can become a letter of introduction. It is time to show that they can be part of tomorrow’s team.
While the stars look for October, young people begin to claim a space in 2027.
And this year there is something more.
Normally, September makes us think exclusively about the playoffs: who will make it to the World Series, who will be the surprise and which player can become a hero.
This time there is a question that inevitably creeps in: will there be a season in 2027?
The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players expires on December 1. Negotiations are underway and there are important differences. No one can guarantee that there will be a strike, but that possibility cannot be ignored either.
That’s why this September feels different.
While some fight for October and others, like Salas, begin to know the stage that could be theirs for many years, we are all enjoying the last weeks of a season that we still don’t know when it will begin again.
That’s why you have to enjoy it.
The races for the playoffs. The stadiums full. The veterans who play as if every game were their last. And those boys who receive the call they have been waiting for since they were children.
September is a farewell, but also a welcome.
