Dodgers 2023 schedule starts at home, with all 29 other MLB teams on the docket

Major League Baseball unveiled its 2023 schedule on Wednesday, for the first time having every team playing every other team each season. The Dodgers start next season at home on Thursday, March 30, the beginning of a four-game series against the D-backs at Ddger Stadium.

A more balanced schedule was part of the collective bargaining agreement agreed to in March, with the trade off essentially fewer divisional games in exchange for a larger interleague slate. The balance comes from playing teams in your own division 13 times instead of 19, so rather than have intradivisional games account for nearly half of the schedule, now divisional games make up just over a third of the slate.

The breakdown of the schedule is as follows:

• Divisional games (52): Thirteen games against the other four teams in your division, so two trips to each divisional city per season instead of three.
• Other league games (64): Six games (one home series, one road series) against the six teams in the same league, but outside the division; seven games against the other four same league, outside division teams. This is down from 66 games.
• Interleague play (46): The “natural rival” designation remains, with one two-game series home and one two-game series away; plus three games against the other fourteen teams in the other league. This is up from 20 interleague games.

This makes it so MLB teams will play host teams from the other league every other year, rather than the old rotation that had longer gaps. When the Dodgers hosted the Tigers earlier this season, for instance, it was Detroit’s first trip to Los Angeles in eight years. Similarly, the Dodgers’ visit to play the Twins in April was their first series in Minnesota in eight years.

The first interleague series for the Dodgers in 2023 comes on May 15, the start of a three-game series against the Twins. The Yankees come to Dodger Stadium from June 2-4. The Dodgers play the Red Sox from August 25-27, Mookie Betts’ first games back at Fenway Park since he was traded to Los Angeles.

Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, is a Saturday next year. The Dodgers will host the Cubs that weekend at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers play the Angels for two games in Anaheim on June 20-21, and host the Halos at Dodger Stadium on July 7-8, and for the second year in a row the Dodgers have the Sunday before the All-Star break off.

The 2023 All-Star Game is in Seattle on Tuesday, July 11.

Next year’s regular season ends on Sunday, October 1, with the Dodgers playing the Giants in San Francisco to end a seven-game road trip. That final road trip also includes a scheduled split doubleheader to start a series against the Rockies at Coors Field on September 26.