Big Bear Nolan's Blog

1. Milwaukee Brewers (45-27) at Atlanta Braves (46-27)

Easily the biggest series of the weekend with two of the top three teams in the NL and MLB competing. The Braves have cooled off here recently with three straight series losses which has allowed the Dodgers to catch them and pass them for the NL No. 1 seed. Now to make matters worse, the Brewers come to town. Milwaukee continues to roll coming off a winning homestand against Philadelphia and Cleveland. The Brewers top two pitchers in Jacob Misiorowski (who is coming off of his historic 19 K complete game shutout) and Kyle Harrison will go this series. Both teams are 2 and 3 games below the Dodgers for the No. 1 seed in the NL and the best record in baseball.

2. Toronto Blue Jays (37-39) at Chicago Cubs (40-36)

Two playoff hopefuls that have had disappointing 2026 season’s square off. The best thing for both Chicago and Toronto? Right now both are in the thick of it. After the two teams first matchup wrapped up today with a Chicago 16-2 win. The Cubs hold the final spot in the NL Wildcard by a half a game and the Blue Jays sit just half a game below in the AL Wildcard as I type this.

3. Minnesota Twins (36-40) at Arizona Diamondbacks (38-36)

A very interesting one takes place at Chase Field this weekend. The Twins who have won 4 in a row and are coming off a series win over St. Louis at home and a sweep at Texas now travel to Arizona. The Twins have been in a lot of trade deadline talks involving star Byron Buxton and ace Joe Ryan, but Buxton himself told The Athletic reporter Dan Hayes “I don’t give a f—” when talking about the trade talks with his no trade clause. So while looking to quiet that and get in contention, the Twins opponent in the D-Backs are also in the race in the NL. Arizona is only 1 game back in the NL Wildcard race. This is a series both could afford.

4. Washington Nationals (39-36) at Tampa Bay Rays (41-30)

The penultimate weekend of June and the Nats are well in the Postseason race just half a game under the wildcard how about that. Led by CJ Abrams and James Wood, Washington has a big series this weekend at Tampa Bay. The Rays have been on a lull recently with a 5-10 record this month. It doesn’t get any easier for the Rays as they face the Nats this weekend. Can the Rays get back going again or will Washington pull off a series win?

5. Cleveland Guardians (40-35) at Houston Astros (35-41)

Cleveland who just lost the lead in the AL Central looks to keep pace with the fellow leading White Sox as the Guardians travel to Houston for a weekend series. The Astros who have struggled still have life as Houston currently sits 2.5 back of the Wildcard and 4 back of the division lead.

(Note: these records are how they are right now at 5:42 pm on June 19. for up to date records check here.)