NEWSLETTER
It’s that time of year, with the Major League Baseball schedule dropping for the following season. But this year’s release is different, if you remember: every team is going to play every other team at least once, starting in 2023. From a fan exposure perspective, I love it.
The short version is that each team will play four series total against its divisional opponents, and two series total against the rest of the teams in its own league. Then one series against each team in the other league. Yes, that means the Cubs will play their divisional opponents much less than you’re used to: instead of 19 games against each of the Cardinals, Brewers, Reds, and Pirates, it’ll be just 13.
The Cubs’ full schedule is below, with the highlights mentioned in the announcement release from the team:
Major League Baseball and the Chicago Cubs today announced the tentative 2023 regular season schedule. The Cubs will open their 148th season against the Milwaukee Brewers, Thursday, March 30, at Wrigley Field.
The 2023 season will mark the third time in the last four seasons that the Cubs open a campaign at home against Milwaukee, having done so in both the abbreviated 2020 60-game regular season as well as this 2022 season. In 2021, the Cubs opened at home vs. Pittsburgh.
After three games vs. the Brewers (March 30, April 1-2), the Cubs head to Cincinnati for a brief three-game series against the Reds (April 3-5) before returning home for a six-game homestand against the Texas Rangers (April 7-9) and Seattle Mariners (April 10-12). Chicago then heads west for a six-game trip at the Los Angeles Dodgers (April 14-16) and Oakland Athletics (April 17-19).
The 2023 schedule is highlighted by interleague play against every American League team along with the annual home-and-home with the Chicago White Sox, which features a pair of two-game series July 25-26 (Guaranteed Rate Field) and August 15-16 (Wrigley Field).
In addition to the home games against the Rangers, Mariners and White Sox, the Cubs interleague schedule includes hosting the Tampa Bay Rays (three games, May 29-31), Baltimore Orioles (three games, June 16-18), Cleveland Guardians (three games, June 30-July 2), Boston Red Sox (three games, July 14-16) and Kansas City Royals (three games, August 18-20).
The Cubs are scheduled to host four holiday games in 2023: Easter, April 9 vs. Texas; Memorial Day, May 29 vs. Tampa Bay; Father’s Day, June 18 vs. Baltimore; and Labor Day, September 4 vs. San Francisco.
Chicago will travel to London, United Kingdom, to play a two-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at London Stadium, June 24-25. The Cubs have a six-game homestand vs. Pittsburgh and Baltimore (June 13-18) followed by a three-game series in Pittsburgh, June 19-21, before departing for London.
