Rangers Benefit from MLB's New Schedule
The new 2023 Major League Schedule will take a little getting used to for the Texas Rangers, the rest of MLB and its fans.
But it has an upside for the Rangers — at least this year.
This year the Rangers will play every team in baseball for the first time, thanks to a new schedule alignment that reduces the number of divisional games and expands the number of games against National League teams.
The Rangers will play 56 games against the American League West, which is down from 76 last year (13 against each team). The Rangers will play 64 games against the other 10 AL teams and then 46 Interleague games.
In all, the Rangers will visit 22 ballparks in 2023, which is actually up from last year’s 18.
But there’s an unexpected by-product for the Rangers — a little less travel.
The Athletic did the math on each team’s travel for 2023, comparing it to last season. While the Giants will actually end up traveling more than 11,000 air miles this season compared to last, the Rangers see the second-largest decrease in air miles in 2023.
Last year the Rangers traveled 38,945 miles. This year the Rangers will travel 34,373 miles, a drop of 4,572 miles. Only the Detroit Tigers get a bigger break from last year, seeing its travel drop by more than 7,000 miles.
The Rangers are coming off their sixth straight losing season. Every little bit helps if they want to be a contender.
By the way, pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training to the team’s facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Feb. 15, with position players to follow by Feb. 20.
The Spring Training game schedule starts on Feb. 24 with a game against Kansas City at the Surprise complex shared with the Royals.
The Rangers wrap up their exhibition season with a pair of games at Globe Life Field against the Royals on March 27 and 28. The Rangers open up the regular season at home against Philadelphia on March 30.
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