Division battles, playoff previews highlight series to watch this week

Good news, everyone: it's only April, and that means there will be no shortage of baseball coming at you in the days ahead.

This week's selection will showcase a handful of top-flight pitchers, one of baseball's red-hot rookies and a few wild cards putting up huge offensive numbers in the early going.

Here are five series to watch for the week of April 13.

Mets at Dodgers
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)

Head-to-head: Despite how differently things ended for these two teams last year, the Mets actually won their season series, four games to three. (This is also a recent postseason rematch, even if the 2024 NLCS feels very, very far away now.)

Storyline: An NLCS rematch and a very premature postseason preview? Well, maybe. The Dodgers (11-4) are holding up their end of the deal. The Mets (7-9), on the other hand, look a little unmoored without Juan Soto, currently on the injured list with an injured calf. New York comes into this series having lost five games in a row, and early as it is, they could really use a boost after a tough series at home against the A's.

Watch out for: Currently leading all of baseball with a .429 batting average is not four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, perennial candidate Francisco Lindor, former batting champ Freddie Freeman or career .293 hitter Bo Bichette. No, in a fantastic twist, one of the most impactful players early on has been Andy Pages (who you may remember as a hero of the Dodgers' most recent World Series win), who has also hit four doubles, four home runs and is tied for the MLB lead with 17 RBIs.

• Final member of Power Rankings Top 5 rocketed up 14 spots

Cubs at Phillies
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)

Head-to-head: The Phillies won both of their 2025 series against the Cubs, two games to one.

Storyline: Everyone here came in with high expectations and has, so far, had very few things go to plan. The Cubs have already lost Cade Horton (right elbow surgery) for the year -- in addition to a spate of other injuries that currently pale in comparison -- and the Phillies are struggling to get both their lineup and their rotation remotely on track. Both clubs also lost their most recent weekend series (the Phillies to the D-backs, the Cubs to the Pirates) and will be looking to get some kind of momentum going.

Watch out for: On the short list of players the Phillies don't have to worry about is their scheduled Monday night starter, Cristopher Sánchez, who is carrying on much the same way he did in 2025, although he is coming off his first loss of the young season in which he gave up 11 hits against the Giants in San Francisco. Regardless, the left-hander has a 1.65 ERA (3 ER in 16 1/3 IP) through his first three starts and is working on a 12.7 K/9.

Marlins at Braves
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)

Head-to-head: The Braves won the 2025 season series, eight games to five, which probably won't come as much of a surprise for those in the know; the Marlins have, in fact, taken just one season series against Atlanta since 2010, when they won 10 of 19 in 2014.

Storyline: Both of these teams had questions to answer coming in, and so far, they've done pretty well to keep their doubts at bay. Before being swept by the Tigers over the weekend, the Marlins had gone 8-5 -- their best 13-game start to a season since 2020 -- and the Braves, now 10-6 with an MLB-best +46 run differential, have apparently shaken off their perplexing 2025 campaign.

Watch out for: It looks like the reigning Rookie of the Year is ready and willing to anchor this Braves lineup. Drake Baldwin is now hitting .303/.370/.561 with five home runs (T-4th in MLB) and 17 RBIs (T-1st) and has appeared in each of the Braves' first 16 games of the season.

Rangers at Mariners
3 games (Friday-Sunday)

Head-to-head: The Rangers swept the Mariners at home in their first meeting last week, bucking the short-term trend -- the latter took their 2025 season series 10 games to three.

Storyline: Not a week ago, the Rangers caught the Mariners in the middle of a skid, and their sweep in Texas capped off a five-game losing streak for Seattle. It would seem that the Mariners drew the line there and have since turned things around, sweeping their own most recent weekend series against the Astros -- but one does have to wonder how much weight three straight wins against a team in such dire straits should hold.

Watch out for: Back to the Rangers, how about a man who's unexpectedly high up on the list of immediate-payoff offseason acquisitions -- Brandon Nimmo is now hitting .367 with three doubles, a triple and three home runs on the year. Not exactly the guy we expected to put here, but that's the fun of an early heater.

Tigers at Red Sox
4 games (Friday-Monday)

Head-to-head: Detroit won last year's season series, four games to two. A particularly nostalgic baseball fan might also mark this down in their calendar as a rematch of the 2013 ALCS -- unfortunately, Justin Verlander, currently sidelined with left hip inflammation, is unlikely to reprise his role in this series.

Storyline: Although they're unlikely to line up, 2025 AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal (2.22 ERA, 0.95 WHIP) and runner-up Garrett Crochet (3.12 ERA, 22 K's in 17 1/3 IP) should both pitch in this series, making for appointment viewing especially as the first wave of high-profile starting pitcher injuries have started to crop up.

Watch out for: Detroit's top prospect-turned-starting shortstop Kevin McGonigle just can't help himself. During the Tigers' weekend series against the Marlins, the 21-year-old stole the show by turning a fantastic play on a grounder deep in the hole on Friday and later by hitting his first career home run on Sunday -- and off Sandy Alcantara, no less.