Diamondbacks will play 60-game regular season against NL, AL West
Jun 23, 2020, 7:33 PM | Updated: 7:49 pm
Eduardo Escobar #14 of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Yuli Gurriel #10 of the Houston Astros look for the call from third base umpire Scott Barry in the third inning at Minute Maid Park on September 15, 2018 in Houston, Texas. Gurriel was safe on the play. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images)
(Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images)
With the plan for the return of the 2020 season getting approved and underway Tuesday, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 60-game schedule is also set.
While the exact dates remain to be seen, the opposition is known.
Arizona will play the majority of its games against its own division, the National League West, in order to limit travel as much as possible. In a similar effort, the rest of the games will be filled in by interleague play against the American League West. Every other team will do the same, so the National League East will play the American League East, and so on.
The D-backs will take on each team in their division 10 times, along with 20 total against the five AL West teams, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
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That’s a difficult break for Arizona. The AL West boasts the Houston Astros, who have made the ALCS three years in a row and won two of them, including a World Series Championship.
The Astros’ over/under for a win total on a 162-game season back in late March was 93.5, per Caesars Sportsbook. The division also includes the Oakland Athletics (91), Los Angeles Angels (86), Texas Rangers (78.5) and Seattle Mariners (65).
None of those teams are all that centrally located, with the gap stretching from Washington to Texas. Nothing has been announced as far as how teams will travel, but with 60 games in less than 70 days, it’s safe to assume there will be a lot of flights.
In its release, MLB noted that the “vast majority” of teams are expected to train at the ballparks in their respective home cities. The league, however, does have the right to relocate teams, per Nightengale. That could be especially relevant for teams in states where coronavirus daily highs continue to hit, such as Arizona, Florida and Texas.
It gets easier travel-wise in the NL West, where it’s the D-backs (85) with the Los Angeles Dodgers (102.5), San Diego Padres (83.5), Colorado Rockies (73) and San Francisco Giants (67).
All teams will report to spring training by July 1, where a two-day gap will occur for COVID-19 testing to get results back to the teams. From there, spring training officially begins on July 3 and the season gets underway July 24.
