As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things well be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend: 1. Series Preview: Padres @ Royals An interleague set between a pair of playoff contenders is set to take place this weekend, as the Padres head to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City to take on the Royals. San Diego has enjoyed an 8-5 record the past two weeks as theyve climbed into a tie with the Giants for the second of three NL Wild Card spots with a 30-29 record. Meanwhile, the Royals are coming off a tough series lo s against the division-rival Twins but enjoyed an eight-game winning streak not long before that, placing them in the second AL Wild Card spot and just three games back of the Guardians for the AL Central lead with a 35-23 record. The series kicks off at 7:10pm local time this evening with Padres ace (3.29 ERA) facing off against Royals veteran (and former Padre) (4.31 ERA). Saturday will see veteran righty (5.66 ERA) take on Royals youngster (3.24 ERA). Notably, if Musgrove can pick up seven punchouts, hell reach 1000 strikeouts from his career making him the 554th pitcher in MLB history Ethan Roberts Jersey to hit that milestone. The Royals have not yet announced who will take the ball opposite (4.09 ERA) on Sunday, though lefty (3.49 ERA) appears to be the next in line barring a shakeup of the clubs rotation. 2. Yelich approaching milestone: s home run on Wednesday was the 199th of his career, leaving him one round-tripper shy of becoming the 373rd player in MLB history to club 200 homers. Yelichs next big fly will tie him with another former MVP, , and 11-time All-Star on the all-time list. The 32-year-old Yelich looked to be on the decline in 2021-22 before a rebound campaign in 2023, and the 2024 season has seen him bounce all the way back to MVP-caliber form at least through a sample of 128 plate appearances. (Yelich mi sed a bit more than three weeks with a back strain.) In 30 games this year, Yelich is hitting .297/.386/.532 (160 wRC+) with six home runs, four doubles, a pair of triples and seven steals (in eight tries). Hell take aim at joining the 200 club this weekend when the White Sox visit Milwaukee and send , and rookie to the mound. 3. Reetz to exit DFA limbo: When the Giants lefty to a big league deal last week, the club needed to clear space on its 40-man roster to accommodate the newly-signed veteran. They did so by designating catcher for a signment, opening up a one-week window for the club to either execute a trade of Reetz or attempt to pa s him through waivers. That window expires today, meaning that an announcement regarding Reetzs future should be expected at some point today. Reetz made it into five games for the Giants in his first big league action since 2021, going 1-for-12 at the plate with a home run and four strikeouts. The 28-year-old has bounced around multiple organizations as upper-level catching depth in recent years, and belting 29 homers and 36 doubles in exactly 600 career Triple-A plate appearances (with an overall .236/.334/.483 batting line). A team willing to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to him could continue to use him in that role, as Reetz has multiple options remaining. Of course, for a player that has regularly been available on a minor league deal in recent years, its perhaps more likely that he will simply clear waivers and be outrighted to the minor leagues by the Giants. Reetz has been outrighted previously in his career and would be able to reject such an a signment in favor of free agency. Ezequiel Pagan Jersey