The last game of wild card Tuesday has the deepest international roster of the four, and a 20-year-old who could make history.
Ethan Salas made the San Diego roster. If he catches, the Venezuelan becomes the youngest player ever to catch a postseason game.
How to Watch
The game is on NBC Sports Network and streaming on Peacock.
Cubs at Padres, NL Wild Card Game 1
Tuesday, Sept. 29 — 10:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 p.m. CT / 7:00 p.m. PT
Petco Park, San Diego
Also streaming - Fubo, with a free trial for new subscribers
Radio - Padres and Cubs feeds, plus ESPN Radio nationally
Dave Flemming calls it with Jim Deshaies and Mark Grant, Clayton Kershaw on the broadcast and John Fanta reporting.
Probables - LHP Matthew Boyd (10-5, 3.91) for Chicago, RHP Michael King (12-10, 3.21) for San Diego.
Lineups
Chicago - Pete Crow-Armstrong CF, Alex Bregman DH, Michael Busch 1B, Seiya Suzuki RF, Ian Happ LF, Nico Hoerner 2B, Pedro Ramírez 3B, Carson Kelly C, Dansby Swanson SS.
San Diego - Fernando Tatís Jr. RF, Samad Taylor LF, Manny Machado 3B, Ty France 1B, Jackson Merrill CF, Austin Hays DH, Xander Bogaerts SS, Jake Cronenworth 2B, Luis Campusano C.
Ethan Salas is on the roster
San Diego is carrying three catchers, and the third is the No. 21 prospect in baseball.
Salas is 20, Venezuelan, and would be the youngest player in Major League history to catch a postseason game. He debuted on Sept. 1 as a designated hitter.
Joe Musgrove Made It, Too
The last time Musgrove pitched, he tore the UCL in his right elbow starting Game 2 of the 2024 wild card series at Petco Park. Tommy John surgery cost him nearly two years.
San Diego added him Tuesday morning as a reliever.
"Velocity was good, stuff was good, shapes were good," general manager A.J. Preller said. Musgrove never formally rehabbed as a reliever — the Padres are going off complex-league outings.
He's a San Diego native and a lifelong Padres fan with an interlocking SD tattooed on his arm. The introduction is going to be loud.
Musgrove made the roster over Randy Vásquez, who threw 68 pitches in Sunday's finale, and Wandy Peralta.
Five countries in the Padres Lineup
Fernando Tatís Jr. leads off. The Dominican outfielder, born in San Pedro de Macorís, hit .289 with 25 home runs and 38 stolen bases.
Manny Machado bats third in his eighth season in San Diego.
Xander Bogaerts plays short. He's from Oranjestad, Aruba — one of three Aruban players in the majors.
Luis Campusano catches. Jackson Merrill hit 26 home runs with 27 steals in center.
Robert Suárez, the Venezuelan closer, had a 1.06 ERA in 33 appearances. Yuki Matsui, the Japanese left-hander, has a 1.84 ERA. Adrián Morejón is Cuban. Miguel Andújar, the Dominican infielder, made the roster after two months out with a wrist fracture. Nick Pivetta, born in Victoria, British Columbia, starts Game 2.
Bregman is at DH Because of Facial Fractures
Alex Bregman was hit by a foul ball while on deck in Cincinnati on Sept. 20 and sustained multiple fractures in his left cheek.
He's back seven days later, but Craig Counsell kept him out of the field.
"Ultimately, I played it safe, I'll be honest with you," Counsell said. "This is a man seven days off of facial fractures. The most critical thing for our team is that he gets his at-bats."
Bregman took grounders at Petco Park on Monday and has said he'd play third if asked. Pedro Ramírez, the rookie, starts there instead.
Bregman went 0-for-4 in his return Friday, then 4-for-4 with two home runs in the regular-season finale. He finished with 28 homers, 93 RBIs and an .819 OPS, and had a 1.010 OPS after the All-Star break against .696 before it.
Chicago's Side
Seiya Suzuki, from Tokyo, hits fourth. Shota Imanaga, from Kitakyushu, is on the twelve-man pitching staff.
Pedro Ramírez and Gabriel Arias are Venezuelan. Miguel Amaya, the Panamanian catcher from Chitré, backs up Carson Kelly. Daniel Palencia is Venezuelan. Javier Assad is Mexican.
Pete Crow-Armstrong leads the majors with 45 home runs and has 107 RBIs, 41 stolen bases and a .943 OPS, second in baseball. He joined the 40-40 club the day Chicago clinched, and led all of baseball in second-half WAR.
Chicago is without most of a pitching staff
Seven Cubs pitchers are on the 60-day injured list: Justin Steele, Cade Horton, Ben Brown, Porter Hodge, Shelby Miller, Hunter Harvey and Phil Maton.
San Diego has its own — Lucas Giolito, Casey Mize, Jeremiah Estrada, Bryan Hoeing and Luis Rengifo are all out.
The series
Game 1 — Tuesday, Sept. 29, 10:00 p.m. ET
Game 2 — Wednesday, Sept. 30. Nick Pivetta starts for San Diego.
Game 3 — Thursday, Oct. 1, if necessary
All three at Petco Park. San Diego is the No. 4 seed. The winner plays Milwaukee in the Division Series.
The rest of Tuesday
Braves 5, Phillies 3. Austin Riley hit a three-run homer off Jhoan Durán with two outs in the eighth. Full preview here.
White Sox 6, Astros 3. Sam Antonacci drove in two in the second, Colson Montgomery homered 432 feet in the fourth. Full preview here.
Red Sox at Yankees, 8:00 p.m. ET. Aaron Judge is off the roster with a calf injury. Full preview here.
Division series begin Saturday, Oct. 3.
Lineups, probables, broadcast details and statistics via MLB. Roster reporting via MLB.com. Announcer assignments via Awful Announcing.