Here are 7 series you won't want to miss this week

After the first full week of regular-season games gave us feats we hadn't seen in decades, it’s fair to say that baseball is firmly back. And we are only just getting started.

This coming week features some high-profile matchups, including a pair of rematches from the 2022 playoffs and Toronto doing its best to try to take down the Tampa Bay juggernaut. Here are seven series to watch during the week of April 10:

Yankees at Guardians
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)

Head to head: The Yankees went 5-1 in the 2022 regular season against the Guardians, sweeping a series at home and taking two out of three in Cleveland. However, the postseason was more evenly matched, as the Yankees overcame a 2-1 series deficit to win the ALDS in five games.

Storyline: This will be the first time these teams see each other since that thrilling ALDS, which was just one of two series in the 2022 postseason to go to a winner-take-all game (Padres-Mets went to three games in the NLWC -- more on them later). That was only the most recent instance of the Yankees ending the Guardians’ season, though, as New York also eliminated Cleveland in the 2017 and 2020 playoffs.

Watch out for: Gerrit Cole. Cole was at his finest in last year’s ALDS, winning both of his starts against Cleveland with a combined 16 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings. Cole has also been dominant to begin the 2023 season, winning each of his first two starts with a miniscule 0.73 ERA so far. He is projected to start the second game of this series on Tuesday, against Hunter Gaddis.

White Sox at Twins
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)

Head to head: The Twins went 10-9 against the White Sox in 2022. Five of those 19 games were decided by one run, with Chicago going 4-1 in such games.

Storyline: Both of these teams are in the similar position of chasing Cleveland in the AL Central, as the Guardians have finished first or second in the division in each of the past seven seasons. Last season, the White Sox and Twins finished second and third in the division, respectively, though both were at least five games out of a Wild Card spot.

Watch out for: Twins starting pitching. In each of Minnesota’s first seven games, its starting pitcher threw at least five innings and allowed no more than one run. The Twins joined the 2018 Red Sox as the only teams since at least 1901 to have a starting pitcher do so in each of the team’s first seven games -- and that team went on to win 108 games and the World Series.

Padres at Mets
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)

Head to head: The Padres went 4-2 against the Mets in the 2022 regular season, and they also beat the Mets, 2-1, in the NLWC. Coincidentally, San Diego took two of three games in all three series against the Mets last season, including the playoffs.

Storyline: As previously mentioned, the Padres-Mets was one of two postseason series to be decided by a winner-take-all game last season, joining the Guardians-Yankees ALDS. The Padres won 12 fewer games than the Mets in the regular season, but stunned New York en route to their first NLCS appearance in the 21st century. This is the teams’ first meeting since then.

Watch out for: Yu Darvish. Darvish was stellar in Game 1 of last year’s NLWC, throwing 72 strikes on 101 pitches in seven strong innings, earning the win over Max Scherzer’s Mets. On Monday, Darvish and Scherzer are slated to face off to open the series once again.

Dodgers at Giants
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)

Head to head: The Dodgers were generally dominant during their 111-win season last year, and their games against the Giants were no exception. In fact, their 15-4 record against San Francisco in 2022 was their best record against the Giants in a season in the Modern Era (since 1900).

Storyline: This rivalry needs no introduction, as the Dodgers’ and Giants’ 2,554 all-time matchups ranks third all-time (trailing Cubs-Pirates and Cardinals-Pirates). However, as of late, it’s been somewhat one-sided. After the Giants had seven winning seasons and three World Series titles from 2009-2016, they have only had one winning season since 2017 -- a span in which the Dodgers have won at least 92 games in every non-shortened season. And even in that one winning season for San Francisco, it was the Dodgers who had the last laugh, defeating the Giants in five games in the 2021 NLDS.

Watch out for: James Outman. The 25-year-old was a relative unknown entering the season, only having appeared in four MLB games, but he has made a big impact with both his legs and his bat, with a .296/.457/.778 line so far in 2023.

Rangers at Astros
3 games (Friday-Sunday)

Head to head: The Astros went 14-5 against the Rangers in 2022, which represented their most wins against any opponent in their World Series-winning season.

Storyline: Is the tide finally turning? Since 2017, the Astros have made six consecutive ALCS (the all-time AL record), while the Rangers have had six consecutive losing seasons. But thus far in 2023, it’s the Rangers, led by first-year manager Bruce Bochy, who are above .500 and ahead of the Astros in the standings.

Watch out for: Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez has picked up right where he left off in his monster 2022 season, blasting three home runs with 14 RBIs in Houston’s first nine games. That included a grand slam on Saturday with a stellar 116 mph exit velocity.

Rays at Blue Jays
3 games (Friday-Sunday)

Head to head: The Rays went 10-9 against the Blue Jays in 2022. Both made the postseason as Wild Card teams, but they did not face each other there.

Storyline: The hunt for 162-0 is on. Alright, not really. But it’s no joke that the Rays have had a record-setting start to 2023, as they became the first team in the Modern Era (since 1900) to win each of their first nine games by at least four runs. Their +57 run differential through nine games is also a Modern Era AL/NL record.

Watch out for: Wander Franco. There’s seemingly no end to the list of factors behind Tampa Bay’s remarkable stretch, but Franco’s hot start is as important as any of them. In his third MLB season, Franco has a .351/.400/.757 line, with four home runs -- two fewer than his total from the entire 2022 season.

Angels at Red Sox
4 games (Friday-Monday)

Head to head: The Red Sox were 4-3 against the Angels in 2022, including 1-2 in games at Fenway Park.

Storyline: Shohei Ohtani and Masataka Yoshida meet for the first time … again. Ohtani and Yoshida overlapped in Japan’s NPB from 2016-2017, before Ohtani joined the Angels in 2018 and Yoshida became Boston’s $90 million man five years later. While this will be the first time they face off in MLB, they did get reacquainted with one another at the World Baseball Classic in March, where they were Japan’s only two All-Tournament selections en route to winning the championship.

Watch out for: Rafael Devers. Fresh off signing a monster 11-year extension in the offseason, Devers has been as good as ever to begin 2023. The third baseman ranks tied for third in MLB with 18 hard-hit balls (95+ mph exit velocity), spearheading a Boston offense that is averaging 6.6 runs per game.