The Padres’ ticket to the 2026 playoffs has come with a side of uproar.
After San Diego clinched a wild-card berth by beating the Dodgers, 4-2, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Thursday night, the team’s boozy celebration ruffled some MLB fans’ feathers.
The guys hit the postgame locker room for a champagne and beer party, and despite their catcher, Ethan Salas, being under the legal drinking age, some of his teammates soaked the 20-year-old in alcohol.
Salas was not seen actually consuming anything — in fact, the team set him up with a sparkling cider array to avoid the temptation — but the scene still bothered some baseball aficionados.
One X user wrote, “So we’re just going to ignore this? Does everyone think it’s funny for an underaged player to be drinking alcohol now? @MLB please do something about this.”
“Never understood why baseball celebrates this way,” another added. “Be like hockey and celebrate when you win it all not just get a pennant or advance into next round.”
There were plenty, however, who were unfazed by the sight.
“Did you see him drink it?” one asked on social media. “It was dumped on his head. Chill out.”
“I think we’re all good with it,” another said. “Grow up.”
A message seeking comment from the Padres on Friday morning was not immediately returned.
Salas signed with San Diego as a teenager in 2023, and it didn’t take him long to impress the organization. He moved through the minor leagues quickly, and made his Padres debut on Sept. 2 against the Reds, where he became the youngest player to catch a game in the MLB since Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez broke into the league at 19 years old in 1991.
Salas has recorded a .229 batting average, two home runs and five RBIs in the 15 games since his call-up, and several of his teammates praised him following San Diego’s playoff-clinching win Thursday night.
The Padres now have three regular-season games left on their schedule against the Diamondbacks before they’re slated to officially open postseason play next week.
