We’re at the end of May. If you asked me today who I felt was the best team in MLB going forward, I’d have a difficult time giving you one club above all others.
I’ve always understood the notion that until you beat the best, you aren’t the best. That is the obvious case with the Dodgers until someone takes them down when it matters most in October. Los Angeles comes into this weekend on a five-game winning streak, and is about to play a team that, if not for one of the greatest fielding blunders of all-time, might very well have knocked them out of last year’s NLDS. That would be the Philadelphia Phillies, and you can probably guess where I have that series ranked on the top five list below.
I’m going to have a difficult time picking against the Blue Crew until they lose in the postseason. The fact that the big three of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and the injury-plagued Mookie Betts are all having down offensive campaigns by their standards, yet the team still leads MLB in slugging percentage and OPS, is incredible. Perhaps more incredible is on the pitching side. This franchise is dealing with constant injuries to key starting pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell (both on the 15-day IL and have made eight starts combined in ’26). Their star closer, Edwin Díaz, is on the 60-day IL after undergoing right elbow surgery in April. Yet, the Dodgers enter this weekend leading Major League Baseball in ERA, WHIP, and opponent batting average.
Any team that can be this good without their top players on the field or performing up to their standards tells me everything I need to know about this franchise’s likelihood of three-peating as World Series champs. It’s very likely. How good are they going to be if everyone is healthy and clicking at the same time late in the year? The rest of MLB can only hope and pray that won’t be the case come playoff time.
Here’s this week’s top five series, beginning with the two-time champs hosting the surging Philadelphia Phillies.
No. 1: Phillies (29-27) at Dodgers (36-20)
Series length: Three games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
These franchises haven’t been on the same field since last year’s NLDS. I’m going to show you a clip. It’s one that everyone reading this probably remembers. But if I failed to mention it, building up this series to No. 1 on the list wouldn’t be quite so easy.
That ill-advised play by Orion Kerkering in the 11th inning of Game 4 ended Philadelphia’s season with a 3-1 series loss. To Kerkering’s credit, he hasn’t allowed last year’s season-ending blunder to affect his play at the start of ’26 (23 G, 20.1 IP, 2-0, 2.21 ERA). But make no mistake, that error will haunt the 25-year-old for the rest of his life until he gets a shot at redemption in October. Until then, he has this weekend to at least get out there and erase some of the demons he surely has when thinking about the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I’ve already mentioned in the lead how statistically dominant Los Angeles has been this year, despite some key pitching injuries and lower numbers than we usually expect from a few big bats. Instead, let’s talk about the Phillies, who are 17-8 in May, and have gone from six games back of an NL wild card spot at the start of the month, to just 1 ½ games behind the Chicago Cubs (we’ll get to them later) for the final WC position. That’s a nice run by a squad that suffered a 10-game losing streak in mid-April.
The Phillies are coming off a dominant three-game sweep over San Diego, one of the teams chasing the Dodgers in the NL West. Philadelphia blanked the Friars twice by a score of 3-0 and won the second contest of the series, 4-3. They’ll face the Padres again at home after this series in Los Angeles.
Keep an eye on Friday’s series-opening pitching matchup between Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler and the Dodgers’ southpaw Justin Wrobleski. Wheeler has been about as dominant as could be expected in his six starts since returning from thoracic outlet decompression surgery in late April (6 GS, 4-0, 1.67 ERA, 0.82 WHIP). Wrobleski has struggled mightily over his last three starts after surrendering 14 runs over 19 ⅔ frames. However, he still has a 6-2 win-loss record to go with a 3.07 ERA.
You might not like either franchise if you live outside Los Angeles and Philadelphia, but that doesn’t mean this series won’t be a fun watch. Two playoff and World Series contenders in a rematch of last year’s memorable NLDS. Tune in if you can.
No. 2: Cubs (31-26) at Cardinals (29-25)
Series length: Three games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Another one of those long-awaited first series that we’ve become more accustomed to witnessing since head-to-head matchups within divisions went from 19 to 13 in 2023. I’m not a big fan of the change, but it is the way of things now. Case in point, this is the first meeting of ’26 between NL Central arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.
Last year, the Baby Bears were 8-5 against the Redbirds, but lost four of six contests at Busch Stadium. Neither squad is playing well in May. St. Louis is 11-12 this month and is currently on a four-game slide after being embarrassed by the Brewers this week. The Cards were swept in three games at Milwaukee, and scored only two runs in the series. As for Chicago, well, what more is there to say other than they ended a 10-game losing streak on Wednesday in Pittsburgh with a 10-4 victory, and proceeded to split their four-game series with the Buccos after a 7-2 win on Thursday? Regardless of winning two straight, the Cubbies are only 12-14 this month, and trail Milwaukee by four games in the NL Central.
The struggles of both clubs lately do not erase the importance of this series. One of these franchises will enter June with some momentum and a good shot at holding one of the three NL Wild Card spots. As it stands on Friday, the Cubs are a half-game ahead of St. Louis for that third NL wild card. There are four other clubs within two games of Chicago (two of which are in the NL Central: the Reds and the Pirates).
Here are the expected pitching matchups in this series. Neither squad’s rotation has exactly lit it up this season. The Cubs have a starter ERA of 4.66, while the Cardinals enter this weekend with a decent 4.13 ERA.
Friday: CHC – Shota Imanaga (11 GS, 4-5, 4.04 ERA) versus STL – Andre Pallante (10 GS, 5-4, 3.76 ERA)
Saturday: CHC – Ben Brown (16 G, 4 GS, 1-2, 2.01 ERA) versus STL – Kyle Leahy (10 GS, 5-3, 4.44 ERA)
Sunday: CHC- Jordan Wicks (1 GS, 0-1, 16.62 ERA) versus STL – Matthew Liberatore (11 GS, 2-3, 4.76 ERA)
The Cubs and Cards won’t meet again until July.
No. 3: Blue Jays (28-29) at Orioles (26-31)
Series length: Four games (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) *Jays won Thursday’s opener, 2-1.
This is tricky. Two losing teams earning the No. 3 position in this weekend’s top five almost seems unfair. However, let me make the case.
- This is the only four-game series of the weekend.
- This is the first meeting of the year between two AL East clubs that were expected in the preseason to make some serious noise in this division. They have not.
- Despite the lackluster play overall, if the playoffs began today, the Toronto Blue Jays would be the American League’s third wild-card team. The Baltimore Orioles are only two games behind the Jays for that final postseason spot.
- Both franchises have won two consecutive series and are playing better over the last week.
On paper, neither has looked particularly good, and their records indicate that. Toronto has a -3 run differential this season, while the O’s are at -43. I usually keep a series like this one on the outside of the top five, but after Thursday’s opener that saw Toronto earn a 2-1 victory on a go-ahead bases-loaded walk to Yohendrick Piñango in the eighth frame, I’m getting the sense that we’re in for a tight series. And the facts are the facts. As it stands today, both clubs are playoff contenders.
No. 4: Diamondbacks (31-24) at Mariners (28-29)
Series length: Three games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
There’s not a hotter team in MLB against sub-.500 squads than the Arizona Diamondbacks. I mentioned in Monday’s series preview that Arizona was 6-15 against winning clubs this season. After sweeping the 22-34 Giants this week in three games, the D-backs’ record against .500-and-under clubs improved to 25-9. More good news for Arizona. They face another franchise with a losing record this weekend in Seattle.
Arizona has won five straight games, is 9-1 in its last 10 contests, and is currently tied for the National League’s top wild card spot with San Diego. They are beating up on the losing teams, and they’ve earned this spot. One of the key factors to this turnaround has been the recent surge of second baseman Ketel Marte. The three-time All-Star is tied for the current longest hitting streak in the majors at 11 games. During that span, Arizona has a 9-2 record, and Marte has seen his batting average jump from .209 to .276. The 32-year-old is hitting .511 over 47 at-bats in those 11 contests, with four homers, 17 RBI, and 14 runs scored since the streak began on May 16.
For as good as the Snakes have been against those non-winning clubs, this is not a time to sleep on Seattle. The Mariners are coming off an impressive road sweep in Sacramento versus the A’s. Seattle outscored the home team 22-4 in the series. With that dominant three-game performance, the M’s passed the Athletics in the AL West standings and sit alone atop the division by a half-game.
Will we see the Diamondbacks’ continued dominance against losing clubs? Or, are we on the verge of seeing the team that many believe has the talent to make their first-ever World Series appearance in 2026, finally get over .500, and make a run in the American League?
No. 5: Atlanta (38-19) at Reds (29-26)
Series length: Three games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Atlanta was not expected by most pundits to finish any better than third place in the NL East. That would be the Mets and Phillies taking the top two spots in either order before the season began. Instead, here we are at the end of May, and not only does Atlanta appear to have the NL East going away right now (8 ½-game lead over Philadelphia), but they also have the best record in MLB at 38-19.
The Reds play in hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park. So far in 26 home games, they have the second-worst home batting average in the National League at .221, yet when they make contact, it’s usually hit out of the park (tied for the most long balls at their home stadium with 39).
I’m not putting this matchup as a must-watch series. It could be a good series if Cincinnati figures out how to keep runs off the board at home. The Reds’ home ERA of 4.86 ranks 13th in the NL. The problem for Cincy is that Atlanta, which just came off a 10-2 win on Thursday at hitter-friendly Fenway Park, leads MLB with a .455 road slugging percentage. I have no clue how Cincy’s three expected starting pitchers this weekend, all with ERAs north of 5.50, are going to stop Atlanta from crushing the ball.
Here’s what the Reds have lined up against Atlanta’s formidable offense:
Friday: Chris Paddack (9 G, 8 GS, 0-6, 6.86 ERA)
Saturday: Brady Singer (10 GS, 2-4, 6.26 ERA)
Sunday: Nick Lodolo (4 GS, 1-1, 5.57 ERA)
Do I even need to show you the numbers of Atlanta’s expected starting hurlers this weekend to convince you they have a huge edge in this series? I’ll give you a hint. Not one of them, between Grant Holmes, Martín Pérez, and Sunday’s starter Spencer Strider, has an ERA over 4.00.
It may be a mismatch on paper, but the Reds are still a playoff contender at only one game back of the final NL wild card position.
Missed the Top Five
Padres (31-24) at Nationals (29-28): Three games
Twins (27-30) at Pirates (29-28): Three games
Red Sox (23-32) at Guardians (33-25): Three games
Angels (22-35) at Rays (34-19): Three games
Marlins (26-31) at Mets (23-33): Three games
Tigers (22-35) at White Sox (29-27): Three games
Royals (22-34) at Rangers (25-31): Three games
Brewers (33-20) at Astros (26-32): Three games
Giants (22-34) at Rockies (20-37): Three games
Yankees (34-22) at A’s (27-29): Three games
