As I was collecting my thoughts for this weekend’s series preview, two things came to mind.
First, the winning streaks. Three clubs are currently on six-game or better winning streaks entering Friday. The red-hot San Diego Padres are coming off an impressive three-game sweep of the Mariners. That makes it eight straight victories for San Diego, and they’ll travel to Anaheim for a three-game set with the Angels. Keep an eye on the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays this weekend as well. One of them made the top five list below, while the other was a hard no.
Second, we’re getting to that point in the season when every team has played about 20 games, and forming a top-five list is becoming more difficult. I can’t always factor in only who’s playing well and who’s not. Sometimes, based solely on the rivalry and importance of a matchup, I have no choice but to add a series between teams that perhaps are not playing up to expectations. For example, four out of the five series below involve at least one team with a record of .500 or lower. But there is intrigue, and in the case of this weekend’s No. 1 series, there’s also importance and a rivalry to consider.
With that, let’s get to this weekend’s top five series.
No. 1: Atlanta (12-7) at Phillies (8-10)
Series length: Three games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Breaking down the NL East in the early part of 2026 is simple. There’s one team playing very well. Atlanta is the only franchise in MLB yet to lose a series. They’ve played six series, won five of them, and split one in early April with Arizona. Then there are three clubs that are hovering a hair below .500: the Phillies, Marlins, and Nationals. Finally, we have the New York Mets who enter Friday on an eight-game losing streak, and are tied for the worst record in the National League at 7-12.
This weekend, the scuffling Phillies welcome division rival Atlanta to town for the first of 13 regular-season meetings between them. They’ll meet again next weekend in Atlanta. This is a big stretch for the Phillies after dropping three straight series, two of which came to the Diamondbacks and Cubs on this current homestand. Philadelphia lost the final two contests to Chicago earlier this week after allowing a whopping 21 runs combined in those matches. The pitching was supposed to be Philadelphia’s strength this year. Even though their longtime staff ace, Zack Wheeler, should be back as early as this month after undergoing thoracic outlet decompression surgery last year, I don’t think anyone expected this squad to have the 26th-ranked team ERA in MLB, currently at 4.92.
The Phillies won eight of 13 games versus Atlanta in ’25. They’ve had Atlanta’s number recently in the playoffs, winning in the 2022 and ’23 NLDS. The Phillies crowd will be out in full this weekend for a relatively important early-season series. Philadelphia needs a series win at home. What better time than now? The no-doubt best pitching matchup of the weekend is scheduled for Saturday between two elite southpaws. Atlanta’s Chris Sale (3-1, 3.27 ERA) will face Philly’s Cristopher Sánchez (2-1, 2.01 ERA).
No. 2: Rangers (10-9) at Mariners (8-12)
Series length: Three games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
This is the series of repeats. This is the first repeat series on the top five list so far this season. I’m sure there will be more. I highlighted this matchup when these franchises met in early April at Texas. During that preview, I talked about the rivalry and the terrific pitching matchups in that series. The Rangers swept the three-game series, but the starting pitching on both sides was great. Guess what? We have a repeat with that as well. As it stands today, the expected staring pitching matchups are identical to what we saw in Texas.
Friday – Jacob deGrom (1-0, 2.87 ERA) versus Logan Gilbert (1-2, 4.18 ERA)
Saturday – Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 5.40 ERA) versus George Kirby (2-2, 3.25 ERA)
Sunday – MacKenzie Gore (2-1, 3.00 ERA) versus Bryan Woo (0-2, 2.16 ERA)
There were only 11 runs scored in the previous series between these teams. Not surprising given those six names above. The AL West is tight top to bottom, with every team within 2 ½ games of first place. Given that these squads won’t meet again until the end of July, I’m marking this as MLB’s most important series of the weekend.
No. 3: Tigers (10-9) at Red Sox (7-11)
Series length: Four games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday)
Oh, the dreaded Monday morning game on Patriots’ Day in Boston. That will cap off this four-game series between the Tigers and Red Sox. I don’t know about you, but for as much as I love day baseball (and I enjoy day games far more than under the lights), there’s something about morning games that completely turns me off. My mind isn’t ready for live action. I’m still thinking about the previous day’s results while catching up with highlights and light reading. Monday’s Patriots’ Day game throws me off every year. Plus, for those of us who love fantasy baseball, it usually means we need to set our lineups before the start of the first game. I’m not ready to do that at 11:10 in the morning. It’s even worse if you live on the West Coast.
Anyway, I’ll get over it. As far as the series itself, I think we’re in for a good one. The Tigers enter on a six-game winning streak after sweeping the Marlins and Royals at home. It was just a week ago that concerns were mounting after Detroit was swept in four games at Minnesota for its fifth straight loss. Now they are the second-hottest team in baseball.
As for Boston, they are playing so-so ball, with the biggest concern undoubtedly being their lackluster production from the starting pitching department. Currently, Boston’s 5.01 starter ERA ranks 26th in MLB. After performances like the one we saw from Garrett Crochet in Monday’s 13-6 loss to Minnesota, in which the lefty yielded 10 earned runs on nine hits in 1 ⅔ frames, I don’t blame anyone if they have concerns about this team. Crochet will look to rebound from that horrific start on Sunday in a matchup with Detroit’s Framber Valdez.
No. 4: Padres (13-6) at Angels (10-10)
Series length: Three games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
This is potentially set up as one of those high-on-momentum type series. The kind where one team enters on a tear (that would be the San Diego Padres and their current eight-game winning streak), while the other enters coming off an exciting road trip that saw them play well against two quality clubs (that would be the Angels winning four of seven on the road against Cincinnati and the Yankees). We know what the Padres’ main story has been this year. The incredible run by closer Mason Miller, who last night struck out the side to cap off a sweep of Seattle, increasing his scoreless innings streak to 30 ⅔ frames. You can read more about Miller’s run in Friday’s MLB News & Moments by Michael Hanlon. There’s one downside to being on the Padres right now. They have the second-best record in MLB, and yet if the playoffs began today, the Friars would be the National League’s No. 4 seed. Thanks, Dodgers.
Mike Trout. If ever you were a believer that the three-time AL MVP was going to eventually find his old swing from nearly a decade ago, then this is probably the time to jump on that bandwagon. Trout’s five home runs in four games played at Yankee Stadium this week were a beautiful thing to watch. With his injury history, I’ll never fully believe that he can play a full season again, but it doesn’t mean fans shouldn’t tune in for his at-bats when he’s swinging as well he has so far this season, at least on the power-side. Trout enters Friday leading the American League in walks (18), runs scored (21), and has an OBP of .416. That OBP would be the highest he’s had since 2021, a season in which he played only 36 games.
Another reason to tune in for this series is to watch the Angels’ starting pitcher José Soriano go for his fifth win. Soriano is my AL Cy Young winner right now (27 IP, 4-0, 0.33 ERA, 31 K). He seems like a perfect guy to call on to end an opponent’s winning streak. Tune in for this one.
No. 5: Reds (11-8) at Twins ( 11-8)
Series length: Three games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
I’ve got to give the Minnesota and Cincy some love today. The Twins are atop the AL Central by a half-game over Cleveland, and have won eight of their last 10 contests. Meanwhile, the Reds continue to ride the hot bat of rookie Sal Stewart (.303/.413/.682 slash line), and are tied for the best record in the NL Central with Pittsburgh.
I’m not sure if either of these teams will last over the long haul, but if the Twins continue to score runs (ranked 6th in MLB), and the quality pitching continues from Taj Bradley (3-0, 1.25 ERA), then maybe they’ll surprise most everyone by making a playoff push for the first time since 2023. Bradley faces Cincy’s Andrew Abbott on Saturday. As for the Reds, they come into play with the second-worst batting average in MLB at .200 on the nose, but they lead all of baseball with a 2.57 bullpen ERA.
These are a pair of clubs that I can’t figure out just yet. We need more time to see if they are true division contenders. Let’s see how they play this weekend.
Missed the top five
Mets (7-12) at Cubs (9-9): Three games
Orioles (9-10) at Guardians (11-9): Four games *Guardians won Thursday’s opener, 4-2
Giants (7-12) at Nationals (9-10): Three games
Rays (11-7) at Pirates (11-8): Three games
Royals (7-12) at Yankees (10-9): Three games
Brewers (10-8) at Marlins (9-10): Three games
Cardinals (10-8) at Astros (8-12): Three games
Dodgers ( 14-4) at Rockies (7-12): Four games
Blue Jays (7-11) at Diamondbacks (11-8): Three games
White Sox (6-13) at A’s (10-9): Three games
