San Diego Padres news: Gary Sanchez injury and future, Houston Astros look-ahead and Apple TV+

After an off day on Thursday, the San Diego Padres will travel to south Texas to meet the Houston Astros for a weekend series. The Padres will also be missing one of their catalysts when they start the series on Apple TV+ (more about that in a moment).

San Diego Padres injury news: What next for Gary Sanchez?

With Sanchez being struck by a pitch in Wednesday's series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies and suffering a fractured wrist, his time of resurgence in 2023 has come to a close with the Padres. However, he has already proving why San Diego should bring him back in 2024.

After being claimed off waivers in late May after not latching on with the San Francisco Giants or New York Mets, Sanchez made an immediate impact with the Padres, boosting a position that had been a black hole for the team before his arrival. His final slash line of .218/.292/.500 in 234 at-bats is certainly serviceable for the Padres, but it is the relationships he quickly created with San Diego pitchers (including Blake Snell, who is pushing for the NL Cy Young Award) that could be the biggest check mark on his application to return next season.

Sanchez is a free agent next season (just like Snell), so the Padres will have to decide how he fits into the future plans. However, of the many decisions A.J. Preller and company will face this offseason, this one seems like one of the biggest no-brainers.

San Diego Padres vs. Houston Astros on Apple TV+

On paper, this was going to be one of the stellar September matchups, but San Diego's fall in the standings has taken some of the luster off that.

Friday night's game in Houston will start at 5:10 p.m. (Pacific time) and will be exclusive broadcast on Apple TV+. You can learn how to watch the game on the streaming service here. And yes, you will need an Apple TV+ subscription to watch the game, but you can get two months free to help with that. Learn more about options here.