Harper's Return to D.C., Yanks-Sox in London and Pujols's Return to St. Louis Highlight 2019 Schedule

The Yankees and Red Sox will face off in London and Albert Pujols will return to St. Louis next season.

Occasional Friday off days were just one of the many notable tidbits from the 2019 schedule, which was released Wednesday.

The season will start March 20 when the Mariners and A's play in Tokyo for the Opening Series. The traditional Opening Day featuring all 30 clubs will take place March 28, which will be the earliest in MLB history, excluding special season openers abroad.

The All-Star Game will be July 9 at Progressive Field in Cleveland and there will only be three games taking place the first day of the MLB draft, June 3. The Interleague matchups for next season will feature the NL West vs. the AL East, the NL East vs. the AL Central and the NL Central vs. the AL West.

Check out some of the key dates on the MLB calendar below.

• Mariners vs. A's Opening Series in Tokyo (March 20-21)

• Opening Day (March 28)

• Phillies at Nationals in Bryce Harper's return to Washington (April 2-3)

• Phillies at Mets in Bryce Harper's first games in New York as a Phillie (April 22-24)

• Dodgers at Padres in Manny Machado's first games against Los Angeles since leaving (May 3-5)

• Padres at Dodgers in Manny Machado's return to Los Angeles (May 14-15)

Padres at Yankees in Manny Machado's first games in New York as a Padre (May 27-29)

• First day of MLB draft (June 3)

• Phillies at Padres in the first meetings between Bryce Harper and Manny Machado (June 3-5)

• Yankees at Blue Jays on the anniversary of the first game played at the Rogers Centre—formerly known as the SkyDome—30 years prior in 1989 (June 5)

• Tigers at Royals in Omaha, Neb. to start the College World Series (June 13)

• Angels at Cardinals in Albert Pujols's first games back in St. Louis (June 21-23)

• Padres at Orioles in Manny Machado's return to Baltimore (June 25-26)

• Yankees vs. Red Sox in London (June 29-30)

• Orioles at Padres (July 29-30)

• All-Star Break in Cleveland (July 8-9)

• Dodgers at Red Sox (July 12-14)

• Cubs at Pirates in Williamsport, Pa. for the Little League Classic (Aug. 18)

• Phillies at Red Sox (Aug. 20-21)

• Yankees at Dodgers (Aug. 23-25)

• Red Sox at Phillies (Sept. 14-15)

• Padres at Brewers in Manny Machado's first games in Milwaukee since the NLCS (Sept. 16-19)

• Yankees at Rangers for the final series at Globe Life Park in Arlington (Sept. 27-29)

You can check out the entire 2019 schedule here.