When the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani Visit Sacramento
In this story:
There are plenty of games that will be played in Sacramento that will be worth going to the ballpark for in 2026, but the most anticipated matchup of the season has to be the arrival of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time. In fact, the Dodgers will be one of the last teams to make their debut at Sutter Health Park during the A's tenure.
The Dodgers, their fans, and their hoards of media coverage will be descending on Sutter Health at the very end of June, from Monday, June 29 through Wednesday, July 1. All three games will begin at 6:40 p.m. (PT), and there are no planned giveaways for these contests.
The only National League teams that will still have a trip left to Sacramento left on their schedule when this series wraps up will be the Miami Marlins, who come to town right after the Dodgers for July 4th weekend, and the Washington Nationals, who will come in to face the Athletics for a quick series after the All Star break.
From that point forward, the only visitors to Sutter Health Park will be other American League teams, all of whom have already visited Sacramento, as AL teams each have a home series against one another each season.
Two teams will never play in Sacramento, unless...
While AL clubs face each other both at home and on the road every season, the venue switches for interleague contests year-to-year. For example, the A's went to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers last year, so this year the Dodgers are coming to Sacramento. Next year, they'll be back in Los Angeles.
But the A's schedule has a wrinkle this season, in that they'll be playing two home series against the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies, but those games will be played in Las Vegas at the home of their Triple-A affiliate.
Because of the every-other-year schedule, neither the Rockies nor the Brewers will step foot in Sacramento for a big league matchup. That is, unless the construction of the A's ballpark ends up hitting some unforeseen delays that would keep them out of their new ballpark in Las Vegas for the 2028 campaign.
The A's agreement with the Sacramento River Cats includes an option for a fourth year of play, just in case those delays occur.
Dodgers vs. A's will be meaningful test
While there are some question marks left on the A's roster, like will they add another starting pitcher, who will be closing games, and who will be playing third base, by and large this roster is set. And judging from what we saw for large stretches of last season, this roster has the potential to surprise people.
The Dodgers have won the last two World Series titles and have since added the best player on the free agent market in Kyle Tucker, and the best closer on the market in Edwin Díaz. This team is a juggernaut, and they're going to roll right through the regular season.
Still, this should be a good test for the A's to see how they're built for the second half of the year. With the series coming at the end of June, the front office should have a decent sense of who this club is, and what additions need to be made. This series could be a bit of a proving ground for the A's at home.
Perhaps it will even be a scenario where if the guys show they can go toe-to-toe with the two-time champs, perhaps the front office makes a slightly bigger move than they'd planned at the trade deadline.
For those in the Sacramento area looking for a very intriguing battle on the baseball diamond this summer, tickets are now available for this series, though they have been marked up a bit due to the opponent being one of the most-watched teams in the sport.
Recommended Articles:
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
Follow byjasonb