In last week’s debut of MLB Weekend Series Preview, I looked at all 15 opening series. That was a fairly long article, but it felt right to give every team some ink at the start of the new season. Now, things have changed. With future editions of MLB Series Preview, I will be highlighting the top five series of the new week every Monday and the top five for the weekend every Friday.
This is all opinion. My goal is to justify why the five series listed below should take priority as a whole over the 10 other possibilities. This isn’t about our favorite teams or any other biases we all have. It’s more about a combination of importance, intrigue, and possibly a few other factors that could help determine a series qualifying for the top five.
I have no doubt as the season progresses, there will be disagreements from readers of Pitcher List. It’s going to get trickier to pick only five matchups to cover as the races heat up and the second-half storylines intensify. But I’m up for the challenge and am always curious what others think. With that in mind, here are my top five series of this week, spanning Monday through Thursday.
No. 1: Yankees (3-0) at Mariners (2-2)
Series length: Three games (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
I would argue that the Seattle Mariners are fortunate to have split their opening home series with the Cleveland Guardians over the weekend. Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh were a combined 3-for-30 at the plate with 16 strikeouts. First baseman Josh Naylor didn’t collect a hit over 15 at-bats. Thankfully, the Mariners’ newly acquired third baseman, Brendan Donovan, and right fielder Luke Raley carried the offensive attack, driving in 10 of the team’s 22 runs in the series.
Now the M’s welcome the undefeated New York Yankees to town in what could be a preview of October baseball if these squads meet expectations. The Yanks just held the San Francisco Giants to one run over three contests en route to a road sweep. Aaron Judge collected only two knocks in the series, but both were homers. Surprisingly, New York’s top hitter was Giancarlo Stanton, who led the team with six hits.
Based on the projected pitching matchups over the next few days, we’re in for some potential doozies. Game 2 on Tuesday will see a battle of aces when New York’s Max Fried takes on Seattle’s Logan Gilbert. Wednesday’s finale is expected to pair the Yankees’ 25-year-old Cam Schlittler (struck out eight over 5⅓ scoreless frames in his season debut on Friday) and Seattle right-hander George Kirby (six-inning quality start Friday).
If the pitching matchups don’t excite you, then maybe having last year’s top two in the AL MVP race, Judge and Raleigh, on the field together as the calendar flips to April, will be enough of a reason to tune in for what should be a great early-season series.
We’ll see how it goes. Last year, the Yankees won five of their six head-to-head matchups with Seattle.
No. 2 Giants (0-3) at Padres (1-2)
Series length: Three games (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
This is going to sound foolish, given that we’re not even in April yet, but am I the only one who feels that San Francisco’s NL West title hopes are over if San Diego sweeps this series? I know, it’s crazy thinking. However, after watching the Yankees hold the Giants to one measly run over three games at Oracle Park, I don’t know if this offense is good enough to compete with San Diego and Los Angeles in the division.
Again, foolish early-season thinking, and as Steve Drumwright wrote in Monday’s MLB News & Moments – “Don’t panic if your favorite team is 0-3 and don’t get too high and mighty if your team is 3-0.” Under most circumstances, I can’t argue with Steve. However, if San Fran falls to 0-6, we’ll quickly find out whether the Giants’ fanbase enters panic mode and will likely get a sense of how they feel about new manager Tony Vitello. I don’t think they can recover from a sweep in San Diego in much the same way Atlanta couldn’t rebound in the NL East after starting 0-7 last year.
This is a good rivalry here. San Diego went 10-3 versus the Giants in 2025. I’m interested to know how San Francisco’s Logan Webb pitches after his rough opener against New York, in which he surrendered six earned runs over five frames. On Tuesday, he’ll take on San Diego’s veteran Germán Márquez, who will make his season debut without a Colorado Rockies uniform on for the first time as he enters his 11th season.
No. 3: Guardians (2-2) at Dodgers (3-0)
Series length: Three games (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
We’ve got a good one here. This is the only interleague series to qualify for the top five this week. There are some intriguing storylines to follow as Cleveland continues its early-season West Coast road trip with a trio of contests at Dodger Stadium.
Let’s start with the reigning two-time champs. The Dodgers are coming off a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. We’ve already seen Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Emmet Sheehan on the bump for the Blue Crew. Next in line are former Japan Pacific League stars Roki Sasaki and Shohei Ohtani. Sasaki will take the ball in Monday’s opener after a rough go in spring training (allowed 15 runs over 8⅔ innings). Ohtani will make his season debut after striking out a whopping 11 batters over four innings in his final spring start against the Los Angeles Angels. It’s going to be exciting to see how these two make out against Cleveland.
Speaking of the Guardians, we all know that Cleveland’s playoff hopes ride heavily on seven-time All-Star José Ramírez. The third baseman had a rough opening series versus Seattle, going 2-for-16 at the dish. Yet the Guardians walked away with a split thanks in large part to rookie Chase DeLauter’s four homers and five RBI. That was as good a debut series as one could ask for. As a side note, DeLauter hit 20 homers over three minor-league seasons spanning 138 games. Not bad, but to see four homers in four contests from a guy not known for his over-the-wall power is awesome. I can’t wait to see if he has a few more long balls in the tank this week in Los Angeles.
No. 4: Red Sox (1-2) at Astros (2-2)
Series length: Three games (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
The highlight of this series is the starting pitching. We’ll see Ranger Suarez’s debut with Boston today against Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. That’s enough of a reason to get me in front of a television set. I’m hopeful that McCullers can stay healthy for a full year after injuries cost him most of the last three seasons. His spring numbers looked solid (eight innings, 3.38 ERA), but Astros fans want their two-time World Series champ to remain on the field and pitch at a high level.
We should also get a chance to see two of the top three finishers in AL Cy Young voting from 2025. Houston’s Hunter Brown (he finished third) is scheduled to start against Boston’s right-hander Brayan Bello on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Red Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet (he finished second) will duel Astros right-hander Mike Burrows.
The high-end pitching should make for a good series. The only thing that would have made it better is if Brown and Crochet were going head-to-head. Other than that, there’s very little reason to stay away from this three-game set. Last season, Boston won four of six meetings with the ‘Stros.
No. 5: Mets (2-1) at Cardinals (2-1)
Series length: Three games (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
How would you like to be in Freddy Peralta’s cleats this week? After the former Milwaukee Brewer, now New York Mets ace, yielded two first-inning runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Thursday’s season opener, he ended up the winner thanks to Paul Skenes‘ worst career start (five runs allowed in less than an inning of work). Who saw that coming? I know Peralta didn’t. He’ll get a chance at a second win on Wednesday against another familiar NL Central foe, the St. Louis Cardinals. For his career, Peralta is 5-6 against the Redbirds with a 4.67 ERA.
Any questions about former Chicago White Sox center fielder, Luis Robert Jr.’s ability to hit with the Mets were at least answered in part after going 5-for-11 in the series, including this walk-off three-run homer in Saturday’s extra-inning contest.
I want to see if Robert continues his early hot streak against the Cardinals, a team I also had some questions about in last week’s MLB Weekend Series Preview, particularly regarding some of their young hitters. In much the same way that Robert showed his offensive skills against Pittsburgh, rookie infielder JJ Wetherholt (4-for-15, HR, four RBI) looked good in his debut series. Also, Jordan Walker (4-for-12, HR, six runs scored) and Nolan Gorman (3-for-10, HR, four RBI) answered some early questions in the Cardinals’ 2-1 series victory over Tampa Bay.
These are two franchises with many early-season roster questions. We don’t know how these teams will mesh over the long haul, but what we do know is that both are coming off opening series wins and have looked solid so far.
Keep an eye on Tuesday’s pitching matchup between Mets right-hander Kodai Senga and the Cardinals Andre Pallante. Both had forgettable 2025 campaigns. Senga only threw 113⅓ innings due to hamstring issues and Pallante went 6-15 with a 5.31 ERA after a solid 2024 season. We’ll see if both pitchers can start the year off with promising debuts.
The Mets went 5-2 against St. Louis last season.
Missed the top five
Twins (1-2) at Royals (1-2): Three games
Rangers (2-1) at Orioles (2-1): Three games
Pirates (1-2) at Reds (2-1): Three games
Nationals (2-1) at Phillies (1-2): Three games
White Sox (0-3) at Marlins (3-0): Three games
Rockies (0-3) at Blue Jays (3-0): Three games
A’s (0-3) at Atlanta (2-1): Three games
Angels (2-2) at Cubs (1-2): Three games
Rays (1-2) at Brewers (3-0): Three games
Tigers (2-1) at Diamondbacks (0-3): Three games
