(SportsRadio 610) - Major League Baseball announced the game times for its 2023 regular season schedule, which will begin with all 30 Clubs scheduled to play on Opening Day on Thursday, March 30.
Opening Day of the 2023 campaign could become the first season since 1968 in which every team across the big leagues plays their first game of the season on the same day.
The World Champion Houston Astros will open their campaign against the Chicago White Sox at Minute Maid Park at 6:08 p.m. (CT) as three-time All-Star and 2020 American League Most Valuable Player José Abreu squares off against his former team for the first time.
Five games are scheduled for Friday, March 31, and a full slate of 15 games will be played on both Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2.
The 15 games on Opening Day will feature nine divisional match-ups and three Interleague contests (SF @ NYY; TOR @ STL; PHI @ TEX).
MLB Network will have extensive coverage of Opening Day on Thursday, March 30th, featuring its signature live look-ins at games in progress on MLB throughout the first week of the regular season with MLB Central, High Heat with Christopher Russo, MLB Now, Off Base, Intentional Talk, MLB Tonight and Quick Pitch featuring previews, highlights, analysis and interviews.
The 2023 season will mark the first to feature a balanced schedule for all 30 Clubs across the Majors since Interleague play was introduced in 1997. Specific features of the new balanced schedule include:
Division Games: Fifty-two total games against divisional opponents (decreased from 76).
Thirteen games (four total series) against each divisional opponent (decreased from 19 games across six series), including seven home games and six away games (or vice versa) for a total of 26 home games and 26 away games.
Intraleague Games: Sixty-four total games (32 home games and 32 away games) against non-divisional league opponents (decreased from 66).
Clubs will play six games against six league opponents, and seven games against four league opponents (previously format was reversed with six games against four league opponents, and seven games against six league opponents).
Interleague Games: Forty-six total games against Interleague opponents (increased from 20).
Clubs will play a home and home series against their natural rivals (four games total).
Clubs will play 42 games against other Interleague opponents, including seven series (21 games) at home and seven series (21 games) on the road.
In a rematch of the 2022 Fall Classic, the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies will visit the Astros for a three-game series at Minute Maid Park beginning on Friday, April 28th at 8:10 p.m. (ET)/7:10 p.m. (CT).