Every weekend in the MLB feels like a new opportunity. School and work are out, the stadiums are full and all 30 teams have the chance to make a statement. And at the end of 15 hard-fought matchups, we get to take a step back and assess where everyone is at the end of another chapter in the long season.
This weekend in particular is shaping up to be a wildly entertaining one. There are interleague matchups featuring star battles we rarely get to see, grudge matches with potential playoff implications and opportunities for surprise teams to prove they really belong in the playoff discussion.
The first pitches of the opening games are nearly upon us, so let us preview what is certain to be a glorious slate of weekend baseball by counting down the four best storylines heading into the second full month of MLB action.
Reds and Orioles showcase their shortstops
Watching a young phenom blossom into a full-blown superstar is one of the most special experiences for all fans of the sport and right now, it's happening for a bunch of shortstops across the game. Bobby Witt Jr. and CJ Abrams stick out as well, but perhaps the two most exciting young shortstops in MLB are the Baltimore Orioles' Gunnar Henderson and the Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz. And as a special treat to us all, they'll square off in Cincy this weekend.
If MVP voting happened today, both would finish in the Top 5 in their respective leagues at a bare minimum. Henderson is tied for the MLB lead with 10 home runs, has a penchant for setting the tone for an inning or full game with a leadoff bomb and has locked down shortstop for the youngest, most talented team in the AL. De La Cruz, meanwhile, is proving he's the most explosive all-around player in the game, hitting eight bombs himself while stealing an MLB-best 18 bases, which is four more than his closest competitor.
If there is an individual showdown to pay attention to this weekend, this is it. Though both had moments of excellence last season (Henderson won Rookie of the Year, for heavens sake), it seems as though they've taken their games to entirely new heights in 2024. And both have yet to celebrate their 23rd birthday, so they're going to be in our lives for a long, long time. What's yet to be determined is which of the two is destined to be the bigger star, and perhaps this weekend will provide a sneak peek.
Braves and Dodgers fight for NL supremacy
When it comes to the regular season, at least, the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers have been the clear-cut best teams in the National League for the last five seasons running. They met in the NLCS in both 2020 and 2021, with each winning once and going on to win a World Series. And in 2024, with perhaps the two most talented rosters in the game, they're ready to duke it out once again.
The Braves travel to Chavez Ravine this weekend, where they took three out of four last September from the Dodgers to cement the top seed in the National League playoffs. Of course, as we know, those playoffs didn't work out for either team, with the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks each taking down their division rivals as the lower seeds. But they each have the chance to establish themselves as the front-runner in the NL once again by besting the other in this weekend's duel.
And like any good yearly rivalry, there are numerous new wrinkles–namely that controversial Shohei Ohtani, the most iconic star in the sport, now plays for one of the participants. In addition, new ace Tyler Glasnow will pitch for the Dodgers Saturday while Max Fried, who was injured for the stretch run last season, twirls for the Braves on Sunday. In terms of future implications, this series may well be the most important of the weekend.
Big tests for the AL Central
Long presumed to be one of the least competitive divisions in all of baseball, the AL Central has come out firing in 2024. It's the only division with at least four teams over .500 and it's not as if any of them are hovering close to the mark. The Minnesota Twins, riding a 10-game winning streak at 17-13, are still stuck in fourth place.
But as we all know, a month of good baseball doesn't mean a team is destined to be around in October and this weekend, three of the Central teams has the chance to prove their mettle. The 18-13 Detroit Tigers head to the Bronx to take on the 20-13 New York Yankees. The 19-13 Kansas City Royals, owners of the best run differential in baseball, host the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. And the aforementioned Twins host the 18-14 Boston Red Sox, the only team with a collective ERA under three.
It's especially compelling because all three are still chasing the Cleveland Guardians, who have a relatively easy matchup in the Mike Trout-less Los Angeles Angels. And usually in MLB a four-team race eventually whittles down to three. So if one of these four is going to be exposed as a pretender, it could happen sooner rather than later.
Cubs, Brewers duke it out
Ever since Craig Counsell hopped from his hometown Milwaukee Brewers to take the manager's role with the rival Chicago Cubs, we've been anxiously awaiting the first matchup between the two clubs. And although the series is in Chicago, meaning we won't yet see how Milwaukee Brewers fans react to Counsell's betrayal, the proposition of first place going to the winner should be more than enough to give the showdown some juice.
The Brewers, sitting at 19-11 heading into the opening matchup Friday afternoon, have done an amazing job to get to this point with numerous injuries to the pitching staff, but that typically takes its toll after a while. But unfortunately for the Cubs, the pitching injuries are a two-way street, and this series lines up so that Shota Imanaga won't get to pitch. So both teams are looking to ride their rotation depth to victory and the early edge in the tight divisional race.
And by the way, the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals are both still capable of making a run at the division if these two both stumble. So winning this weekend is paramount not only to weigh down the opponent, but set one's self apart from the pack in a hotly contested division top to bottom.
Astros look to rejoin the party amid MLB rise
For the first time all season, the Houston Astros have a sliver of momentum. They've won four of their past five, including taking a series at home from the Guardians, who still have a share of the best record in the AL. We know Houston has all the talent a team needs to make a playoff run, but the start of their season has been so alarming that it's hard to trust they're still capable of making it to their eighth straight ALCS. They have the opportunity to prove they can this weekend.
The Astros will host the Seattle Mariners, current leaders in the AL West, in the first showdown between the two teams in the new season. And the different potential outcomes of the series create widely variant potential scenarios in the division moving forward. The Astros currently sit six games back of Seattle, but that number could be anywhere from three to nine following the next three games.
How Houston handles this opportunity to get their season back on track will speak volumes about their resilience, considering the team is finally starting to get healthy. Framber Valdez starts his second game since returning from the IL Saturday, preceded by current ace Ronel Blanco on Friday. And we know Seattle's pitching staff is a stiff test for anyone, this weekend rolling out George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller. We should have much more info about both teams after watching the action the next three days.
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