Ranking the MLB playoff wild-card matchups

The 2023 Major League Baseball playoff matchups are set with four wild-card series scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

Due to their place as the top divisional winners, the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves all have byes through to the Divisional Round. They will await the winners of the four wild-card series with the following matchups.

American League wild-card

No. 3 Minnesota Twins vs. No. 6 Toronto Blue Jays

No. 4 Tampa Bay Rays vs. No. 5 Texas Rangers

National League wild-card

No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers vs. No. 6 Arizona Diamondbacks

No. 4 Philadelphia Phillies vs. No. 4 Miami Marlins

Now that we know the matchups, let's ranks them from most entertaining and interesting to the least entertaining and interesting. 

The Rankings

1. Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays. If you like offense, high-scoring games and home runs, this might be the series for you. Texas and Tampa Bay boast two of the best lineups in baseball and come into their wild-card matchup both ranking in the top-four in total runs scored (Texas is third, Tampa Bay is fourth) and in the top-six in home runs (Texas is third and Tampa Bay is sixth). 

The Rays do have the better pitching staff, even if it has battled injuries all year, which should present a challenge for the Rangers' bats. The Rangers did, however, win four of the six meetings between the two teams during the regular season. This is the third time these two teams have met in the postseason, with the Rangers winning in both 2010 and 2011 on their way to back-to-back World Series appearances. 

2. Philadelphia Phillies vs. Miami Marlins. On one side you have the reigning National League champion Phillies, who are loaded with star power and big-game experience. On the other side, you have an upstart Marlins team that is back in the playoffs are losing 90-plus games in back-to-back years. 

Miami played Philadelphia very tough this season, actually winning the regular-season series by going 7-6. Miami will start Jesus Lozardo and Braxton Garrett in the first two games of the series. That is potentially significant because the Marlins went 4-0 against the Phillies this season in games started by Lozardo and Garrett this summer. 

The Marlins made a living this season by winning close, low-scoring games and are going to need that pitching staff to shine to give them a chance.

3. Toronto Blue Jays vs. Minnesota Twins. While the other AL wild-card matchup matches up two offensive juggernauts, this one boasts two of the best pitching staffs in the league as the Blue Jays and Twins enter the postseason with the first and sixth ranked ERAs in the Majors. 

For Toronto, this season has been a little bit of a 180 from what was expected. While they made waves last season thanks to a powerful, star-studded lineup, this year's team was driven – and at times carried – by a pitching staff led by Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi, all of whom posted ERAs under 3.86 for the season.

As good as the Blue Jays staff has been as a whole, the Twins have the best starter in the series this season in Sonny Gray. 

4. Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks have one of the league's most exciting players in rookie Corbin Carroll and two outstanding starting pitchers in Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. The problem for Arizona is that things get a little sketchy the further down the pitching staff you go and after Carroll, the lineup is not very intimidating. 

The Brewers have a little more depth in their lineup and rotation, but Gallen and Kelly dominated Milwaukee in their starts against them this season. Gallen allowed just six hits and only one earned run in 14 innings against the Brewers, while Kelly allowed just four hits and only four earned runs in his 13 innings against the club. Between the two starters, that is only five earned runs in 28 innings. Something will need to change for Milwaukee.