MLB's inaugural Rivalry Weekend kicks off on Friday with a slew of competitive matchups. The weekend is highlighted by Juan Soto's return to Yankee Stadium for the first time as a member of the New York Mets, but the slate contains a bunch of intriguing matchups for baseball fans to watch. Eleven of the 15 series are interleague matchups, and two are between division rivals.
Below is our ranking of the weekend's rivalry matchups in terms of how exciting and competitive they should be. All home teams are listed second.
1. New York Mets vs. New York Yankees
All-time record: 84–67, Yankees
Two of baseball's best teams will battle in the rivalry known as the Subway Series, a rematch of the 2000 World Series. The big storyline will be Juan Soto returning to Yankee Stadium for the first time since ditching the Bronx to join the Mets on a $765 million contract. I'm sure he'll be welcomed back warmly by Yankees fans.
2. Seattle Mariners vs. San Diego Padres
All-time record: 68–63, Mariners
This “rivalry” doesn’t have much notable history, but these teams do have the second-best combined records in 2025 of this weekend’s matchups. It features two of the best, most dynamic center fielders in baseball in San Diego’s Jackson Merrill and Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez. Plus, this is the first official edition of the 2025 Vedder Cup. A can't-miss series.
3. Atlanta Braves vs. Boston Red Sox
All-time record: 50–44, Red Sox
Both teams are hovering around .500 but should be far better and could combine for some quality baseball. Boston is bringing its Rafael Devers drama into the weekend. The new lefty ace the Red Sox acquired from the White Sox (Garrett Crochet) will face the old lefty ace they acquired from the White Sox (Chris Sale) on Friday night.
4. Cincinnati Reds vs. Cleveland Guardians
All-time record: 76–59, Guardians
Former Guardians manager Terry Francona is set to face his former team with his new squad this weekend in the Ohio Cup. It'll be his first time on the other side of this rivalry, as he compiled a 32–19 record against the Reds with Cleveland.
5. Washington Nationals vs. Baltimore Orioles
All-time record: 64–52, Orioles
Both teams have been bad this season, but they also possess two of the best young cores in the game. Washington's James Wood, CJ Abrams, and Dylan Crews, and Baltimore's Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson are all under 24 or younger. The Beltway Series should be exciting for years to come.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies
All-time record: 1,230–1,085–8, Pirates
The Pirates are terrible, but at least this series is giving us an elite pitching matchup. On Sunday, Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes (3–4, 2.63 ERA) will go head-to-head with Cristopher Sánchez (4–1, 2.91 ERA). Plus, it's a chance to watch Kyle Schwarber (NL-leading 14 home runs) continue to mash baseballs. Pittsburgh won last year's season series between the Pennsylvania rivals for the first time since 2017. Fun fact: Despite having by far the most head-to-head matchups of any teams on this list, the Phillies and Pirates have never met in the postseason.
7. St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals
All-time record: 79–56, Cardinals
This rematch of the 1985 World Series, which the Royals won in seven games, will feature a great pitching matchup on Sunday as former Cardinal Michael Wacha (3-4, 2.96 ERA) will duel with southpaw Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 3.11 ERA), who’s enjoying a long-awaited breakout campaign.
8. Detroit Tigers vs. Toronto Blue Jays
All-time record: 247–212, Blue Jays
This feels like one of the leftover matchups on paper considering these two American League teams have never met in the playoffs, but the Tigers are excellent this season and the Blue Jays' top three starters all have ERAs under 4.00, which gives them a fighting chance against an elite Detroit rotation.
9. Los Angeles Angels vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
All-time record: 75–73, Angels
Shohei Ohtani will be facing his former team again, but the Angels are missing Mike Trout (again), which puts a damper on the possibility this series will be competitive.
10. Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers
All-time record: 144–142, Rangers
These two underachieving teams will face off for four games in Arlington and whoever wins could wind up near the top of the tightly bunched AL West. The Lone Star State rivals played against each other in the 2023 ALCS, which the Rangers won in seven games, for their only playoff matchup.
11. Athletics vs. San Francisco Giants
All-time record: 89–79, A’s
The longtime interleague foes have faced off in the World Series four times, most recently in 1989, with the A’s winning three of those matchups. But this rivalry lost a significant amount of juice when the A's left Oakland. Both teams are better than expected this season, but it's hard to get fired up about San Francisco vs. Sacramento/Las Vegas.
12. Milwaukee Brewers vs. Minnesota Twins
All-time record: 255–242, Twins
Don't expect offensive fireworks in Minneapolis. The Twins rank 22nd in OPS (.679), while the Brewers are 27th (.656), though Minnesota’s eight-game winning streak entering Wednesday gives this series some extra juice if that’s still active entering the weekend.
13. Chicago White Sox vs. Chicago Cubs
All-time record: 78–74, White Sox
The White Sox have the Pope, the Cubs have Pete Crow-Armstrong. I'll leave it up to you to decide which is more important to the city. The Pale Hose are better than last season, but that's not saying much. Expect the Cubs to win the Crosstown Classic again.
14. Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies
All-time record: 262–209, D-Backs
The Rockies look like one of the worst teams in baseball's modern era. No amount of Corbin Carroll raking is going to save this matchup.
15. Miami Marlins vs. Tampa Bay Rays
All-time record: 81–60, Rays
Perhaps the novelty of this game being played at the Yankees’ spring training facility will get more fans to show up than usual for these teams, but there's not much to get excited about when it comes to two of MLB’s cheapest franchises.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ranking MLB's Inaugural Rivalry Weekend Matchups.