Two division rivalries, two lengthy losing streaks, and an entertaining interleague series will make this week’s top five list.
It was quite a weekend in the NL East. Watching the Mets get swept for the third straight time for an 11th consecutive loss is simply mind-boggling considering the talent level on that roster. The Phillies were swept at home by the Braves. Atlanta is 15-7, and is the only team over .500 in the division. Their lead in the NL East is five games (the only club with a better than one-game advantage in any division).
You’ll see the Mets and Phillies on the top five list below. There’s one team I wanted to talk about this week, and if it weren’t for their upcoming opponent, the Chicago White Sox (8-14 record), then the Arizona Diamondbacks would certainly be a top-five topic. The D-backs are 13-9. They just won two out of three at home against the defending American League champions, the Toronto Blue Jays, and are now winners of four consecutive series. If they take care of business in the desert against the White Sox this week, my guess is that they’ll make the top five list for Friday’s MLB Weekend Series Preview. Arizona will host the Padres for two games on Saturday and Sunday.
Onto this week.
No. 1: Yankees (13-9) at Red Sox (9-13)
Series length: Three games (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
It’s MLB’s most storied rivalry. Admittedly, I’m not as excited about the Yankees and Red Sox getting together as I used to be, when there was a pure dislike between the players on both sides. Yes, I’m sure the fans still antagonize each other, mostly in good fun. That won’t change, but on the field of battle, what’s been missing in this series for well over a decade now is that little something extra that sparks some feistiness. The days of Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, A-Rod, Jason Varitek, and so on are long over.
However, that doesn’t mean this series isn’t always worth tuning in for. Last year, Boston owned the Yankees during the regular season, winning nine of 13 meetings. Recall, Boston also had a 1-0 advantage in the Best-of-3 AL Wild Card Series, before dropping the final two contests.
Most importantly, heading into their first meeting of the season on Tuesday, the Yankees will be guaranteed to be sitting atop the AL East. Tampa Bay plays Cincinnati on Monday, and could climb into a tie with New York before Tuesday’s action. As for Boston, they just split their series against Detroit with a Patriots’ Day win, 8-6, on Monday afternoon — just in the nick of time to update their record for this article.
On a side note: One of the reasons I’m not a big fan of every team having to play the other at least once during the regular season is that it cuts back on division matchups. Division rivals meet only 13 times a year, down from the pre-2023 version, when they met 19 times. This is the first time the Sox and Yanks will meet before June since that scheduling change was made. Much better this way. When there are only four series among division opponents, they should be spaced out over a six-month period. That’s not been the case with this series in quite some time.
No. 2: Dodgers (15-6) at Giants (9-13)
Series length: Three games (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Some would argue that this is the second-best rival in MLB. It’s certainly one of the longest. As with Boston and New York, this will be the first meeting this season between these NL West clubs. This series doesn’t get underway until Tuesday, meaning if the Dodgers find a way to split their series in Colorado on Monday, they’ll have MLB’s best record at 16-6.
Let’s start with the facts. The Giants return home after a 4-5 road trip in Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Washington. They are ranked 27th in runs scored with 75, thanks in large part to their .293 OBP, which ranks second-to-last in MLB. First baseman Rafael Devers continues to struggle, batting only .225 with a pair of homers and eight ribbies. San Fran’s about to take on the No. 1 slugging team in the league, and a pitching staff with an ERA of 3.44. This is probably the last team the Giants want to face right now.
If you believe in rising for the big game, and in the idea that not every regular-season contest is created equal, then Giants fans can at least hope the worst is behind them. A stretch like this against their biggest rival should wake them up.
It’s a big, early-season series, especially for the home team. The Dodgers won nine of 13 regular-season contests last year.
No. 3: Brewers (12-9) at Tigers (12-11)
Series length: Three games (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Our own Steve Drumwright made some interesting observations about the NL Central in Monday’s MLB News & Moments. The one that stood out to me was how well the division is playing (all above .500), and yet the Milwaukee Brewers still haven’t played an NL Central squad. That’s insane, and kind of goes back to what I was saying earlier about the Red Sox and Yankees finally playing in April for the first time in four years.
Here we are on April 20, and the Brew Crew still won’t be playing a team in their own division. As Steve said, that won’t come until this coming weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates. What it tells me about Milwaukee is that, as usual, they can hold their own against any team in MLB. Milwaukee has played 15 interleague contests and won ten of them. Now they have three more games against the AL, this time versus a Tigers team with the best home record in baseball at 8-1.
I’m looking forward to the second game of this series on Wednesday, when Milwaukee will call on 27-year-old Chad Patrick to take on Detroit’s Casey Mize. Patrick has only struck nine batters over 19 innings, but has only allowed two earned runs this year. On the other side, Mize has put together three solid starts in four tries, and take away an outing on April 6 versus the Twins (4.1 IP, 5 ER), and you’re looking at a pitcher with a top-five ERA in MLB. As it stands, Mize has a 2.78 ERA.
A good series between two playoff hopefuls and certainly the most interesting interleague series of the week.
No. 4: Phillies (8-13) at Cubs (12-9)
Series length: Four games (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Two NL squads on exact opposite sides of the streak board. Philadelphia enters on a five-game slide, while the Cubs have won five straight contests. Both teams made the playoffs last year and were preseason betting favorites to get back to October baseball in 2026.
Last week, the Cubs dominated the Phillies on the road, winning the final two contests of the series and outscoring the home team 21-6 in those wins. The Phils didn’t recover well against Atlanta. After Sunday night’s 4-2 loss, Philadelphia dropped to 6 ½ games back in the NL East. That’s not as bad as the franchise we’ll get to in a moment, but let’s be honest, no one figured Philadelphia would have the worst run differential in baseball after nearly a month of games. Their -38 is six runs worse than Kansas City’s -32.
This is a big stretch for Chicago to end April. After this four-game series with Philadelphia, they go on the road to face the NL West’s top two squads, the Dodgers and Padres.
No 5: Twins (11-11) at Mets (7-15)
Series length: Three games (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Sorry, Minnesota fans. This isn’t nearly as much about the Twins as it is about New York. Although after putting the Twins and Reds on my top five list for last weekend’s preview, Minnesota was swept by Cincy and has now lost four straight. Yeah, four isn’t good, but 11 is awful. That alone is why the Mets and Twins snag the fifth spot in this week’s preview.
It’s fascinating to watch the second-highest-paid team in MLB struggle this mightily without their star, Juan Soto. The 2025 NL stolen bases leader is expected back soon, but if the Mets can’t get it going with three games at home to end April versus these Twins, followed by the Rockies and Nationals, then their season is, realistically, probably close to over. This is the moment for New York to prove that their MLB-worst 7-15 record is just a bump in the road.
There’s not much else to say, but this feels like a home stretch where anything less than a 6-3 record against the three aforementioned opponents would be a catastrophic failure heading into May.
Missed the top five
Astros (8-15) at Guardians (13-10): Three games
Reds (14-8) at Rays (12-9): Three games
Cardinals (13-8) at Marlins (10-12): Three games
Atlanta (15-7) at Nationals (10-12): Four games
Orioles (10-12) at Royals (7-15): Three games
Blue Jays (8-13) at Angels (11-12): Three games
A’s (11-11) at Mariners (10-13): Three games
Pirates (13-9) at Rangers (11-11): Three games
Padres (15-7) at Rockies (9-13): Three games
White Sox (8-14) at Diamondbacks (13-9): Three games
