Division rivalries highlight this week's 5 series to watch

Now we're rolling.

The pomp and pageantry of Opening Day is over for most teams -- only the Guardians, Blue Jays and Red Sox have yet to hold their home openers -- and as the small sample sizes get a little larger, a clearer picture of every team is starting to develop.

Conversely, there is still so much to learn about teams and players across the league, and the second full week of the regular season will undoubtedly enlighten and surprise us.

There is a wealth of fun matchups on the upcoming schedule, and we've spotlighted five that you should follow intently this week. The bulk of them feature longtime division adversaries writing the next chapter in their rivalry. But we will begin with two AL teams that have proven to be equally matched in recent seasons.

Mariners at Blue Jays
3 games (Monday-Wednesday)

Head-to-head: These two teams evenly split their six regular-season matchups in 2023. That's appropriate since there hasn't been much separation between these two contenders over the past few years.

Storyline: If history is any teacher, the Mariners and Blue Jays will be jockeying for a playoff spot in the final days of the season, so winning these head-to-head meetings takes on a little extra importance. In '21, the two clubs finished one game apart and just on the outside of the American League Wild Card picture. The following season, they faced off in an AL Wild Card Series that saw Seattle win both games in Toronto, punctuated by an epic, series-clinching comeback in Game 2. The Blue Jays then ended last season one game ahead of the Mariners to claim the final Wild Card berth.

Watch out for: Is this the time when the stars begin to shine? Vladimir Guerrero Jr. does have a couple of home runs, but he is batting .189 with 11 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances. Bo Bichette owns a .596 OPS. On Seattle's side, Julio Rodríguez has one extra-base hit and a .493 OPS. You know it's only a matter of time before these elite hitters snap out of their early-season funks. When they do, it will probably occur in a big way.

Mets at Braves
4 games (Monday-Thursday)

Head-to-head: The Braves were victorious in 10 of their 13 games against the Mets last season. Since August 2022, they are 16-4 against their NL East foe.

Storyline: This has been one of the game's fiercest rivalries since Mike Piazza and Chipper Jones were doing damage in the 1990s. Two years ago, each team won 101 games, and Atlanta claimed the division title via the head-to-head tiebreaker. While the Braves have remained a powerhouse, the Mets are retooling for the future while trying to compete in the present. They are coming off a road series win over the Reds while the Braves completed a three-game sweep of the D-backs over the weekend.

Watch out for: This series will give us our first look at how the Braves' starting rotation adjusts to life without Spencer Strider. One of the best pitchers in baseball over the past two years, Strider has been shelved because of a damaged UCL in his right elbow. Tommy John surgery seems like a possibility. His now-vacant spot in the rotation will come up Wednesday when left-hander Jose Quintana is slated to be on the bump for the Mets.

Orioles at Red Sox
3 games (Tuesday-Thursday)

Head-to-head: The Orioles won the season series last year, 7-6. Each side has won 18 of the previous 36 contests dating back to 2021.

Storyline: There are extremely high expectations surrounding Baltimore, which is coming off of a series loss to the Pirates that included consecutive walk-off defeats. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have won seven of their first 10 contests thanks in part to a powerful start from outfielder Tyler O'Neill. The offseason acquisition drilled his fifth dinger in nine games during Sunday's victory over the Angels and paces the big leagues in slugging percentage (.893) and OPS (1.407).

Watch out for: Corbin Burnes' first AL East matchup, slated for Tuesday, will be a must-see. But don't lose sight of the Red Sox's starting pitchers throughout this series as they have already made some history. With six scoreless frames from Tanner Houck on Sunday, Boston's starters possess a 1.53 ERA -- the best in the Majors and the franchise's best through its first 10 games since 1919. Nick Pivetta and Kutter Crawford, Boston's probable pitchers on Wednesday and Thursday, have allowed only two earned runs through 21 2/3 combined innings this season.

Rangers at Astros
3 games (Friday-Sunday)

Head-to-head: The Rangers have won two of the first three games of a four-game set against their in-state rival that wraps up Monday. A few days later, they will meet in Houston for the first time since Texas won ALCS Games 6 and 7 last October en route to the franchise's first World Series championship.

Storyline: They say familiarity breeds contempt, and things can get a little heated when these AL West combatants get together. The reigning champs are atop the division because of an offense that leads the AL in OPS (.813) and is tied atop the league leaderboard in runs scored (53). Meanwhile, even though the Astros triumphed Sunday, they have lost seven of their first 10 games for the first time since 2016.

Watch out for: Adolis García will probably get a rather boisterous welcome from the Houston faithful when he comes to the plate all weekend long. He crushed the Astros' dreams during last year's ALCS as he homered in each of the final four games of the series, including a two-HR performance inside Minute Maid Park in Game 7. García, who has four long balls in his first nine games, slugged a three-run shot in a 10-2 win on Friday.

Padres at Dodgers
3 games (Friday-Sunday)

Head-to-head: San Diego and Los Angeles split the two-game Seoul Series in Korea last month. The Dodgers have won the regular-season series against the Padres each year since 2011.

Storyline: The most recent Padres-Dodgers contest will likely go down as one of the wildest games of the 2024 season. Mookie Betts, who racked up four hits and six RBIs in that 26-run barn burner, has a .324/.427/.681 slash line against the Padres since coming over to the Dodgers prior to the 2020 campaign. His hot bat this season (1.359 OPS, best in the NL) has helped the 8-4 Dodgers create some early separation in the division; they are three games clear of the Padres, who are tied for second place. San Diego dropped a series to the Giants over the weekend and has tallied only 15 runs in six games this month.

Watch out for: Yoshinobu Yamamoto's introduction to the Major Leagues was short and ugly: five earned runs allowed in one laborious, 43-pitch inning versus the Padres on March 21. But he quickly put that poor first impression behind him and has recorded 10 scoreless innings in two starts since, including a masterpiece against the Cubs on Saturday. He should get a rematch versus San Diego early in this series.