Major League Baseball plans to open its miniature season with 16 nationally televised games in four days.
Major League Baseball released an abbreviated regular season schedule Monday that would begin July 23 with a primetime ESPN doubleheader of Yankees-Nationals and Giants-Dodgers. Opening Day for all other teams would be July 24, with ESPN and MLB Network combining for five national games that day. [Related: 2020 MLB TV Schedule.]
Overall, there are 16 nationally televised windows scheduled for the first four days of the season. Fox Sports and MLB Network are set to combine for five games July 25, including a FOX tripleheader of Brewers-Cubs, Giants-Dodgers and Yankees-Nationals.
ESPN, TBS and MLB Network would combine for four on July 26, including Yankees-Nationals on TBS and a Sunday Night Baseball doubleheader of Braves-Mets and Giants-Dodgers on ESPN.
Beyond the opening weekend, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball schedule is set to feature only three matchups for the majority of the season — Red Sox-Yankees (August 2 and 16), Cubs-Cardinals (August 9 and September 16) and Braves-Phillies (August 23 and 30). Two late season windows have yet to be determined (September 13 and 20).
FOX is scheduled for 13 windows, the same as in the original version of its schedule announced in March. Four of its windows would air on Thursday nights, including the August 13 “Field of Dreams” game from Dyersville, Iowa that was first announced last year. The White Sox would face the Cardinals in that game, rather than their original opponent, the Yankees.
TBS will air games every Sunday of the season, no real surprise given that the network’s run of late season games would have begun by now had the season not been delayed.
MLB previously announced the cancellation of this year’s All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, which was supposed to take place July 14.
