The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.Last weekend was chaotic. This one could be quite influential, even before Sunday’s Hall of Fame inductions. Plus: Our Baseball Card of the Week, and … do you know the dropped third strike rules? Let’s review. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!Must-Watch: Ranking this weekend’s matchupsToday, Jim Bowden identifies one primary deadline target for each potential buyer before the Aug. 3 deadline. Improbably, there are (still) 22 teams on his list. Sheesh.But that’s going to make for a can’t-miss weekend of baseball. Here’s how I’m ranking the matchups, based on both deadline/playoff intrigue and watchability, and here’s the standings page as a useful reference.
Yankees at Phillies: Both teams are in second place in their divisions. And any potential World Series preview is worth watching.
Cubs at Pirates: Pittsburgh (53-50) has more to lose, but this NL Central matchup is fun.
Royals at Tigers: The Royals are in last place, but entered the series 5-1 in the second half. Detroit (49-54) took game one — more on that later — but probably need to win three of four to stave off a sell.
