The San Diego Padres remain in the thick of the National League wild-card race.
The Padres have been one of baseball's hottest teams over the past month, winning 17 of their last 22 games despite dropping two of three to the New York Mets .
San Diego remains firmly in the wild-card picture, but with just over a month left in the regular season, they can't afford to let up.
That makes the upcoming September call-ups particularly important.
The Padres will need to make some difficult roster decisions to ensure they have their best players available for the stretch run, and that could put Austin Hays and Sung-Mun Song among those fighting to keep their roles.
According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Tribune , Hays and Song could be the odd men out a few weeks from now.
"There is a possibility Hays (4-for-16) and/or Song (.202/.305/.263) are off the major league roster in the coming weeks," Acee wrote.
Acee went on to say that veteran outfielder Samad Taylor , who recently started his rehab assignment, and Miguel Andujar are a few names who could take their place.
"With Samad Taylor having started his rehab assignment and Miguel Andujar beginning to swing a bat and the potential for the left-handed-hitting Ethan Salas to join the team as a September call-up," he wrote.
Salas, 20, is another name who could make his way to the major league roster by the time September rolls around.
Taylor started his rehab assignment on Tuesday. He landed on the 10-day injured list in early July with a right oblique strain .
Given the amount of time he missed, Taylor will need a handful of rehab contests before returning. With September a few weeks away, he is a likely candidate for a call-up.
As for Andujar, he's been dealing with a fractured right wrist for the past month and has been on the 10-day IL.
On Monday, the Friars announced that Andujar had been cleared to begin a swinging progression . He will ramp up before eventually heading out on a rehab assignment.
Andujar currently has no timeline to return from the injured list. As things stand, the 31-year-old is unlikely to return before the end of August.
However, he and Taylor could both be major impact bats in the coming weeks. If the team decides to call up Salas, too, there could be some major roster changes sooner rather than later.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/padres/onsi as 2 Padres At Risk of Losing Roster Spot in Immediate Future .
