Exploring the Impact of MLB’s Reformatted Schedule on the Phillies in 2023

Phillies pitchers and catchers report Feb. 16, less than three weeks to the first spring training game and 52 days to the regular season opener.

It will all be here before you know it.

The 2023 regular season will be different as the schedule for each team has been reformatted to compete against the other 29. The Phillies, for example, face the Rangers, Yankees, White Sox, Mariners and Astros in April alone — 15 games against the American League.

Last season, 15 of the Phillies’ first 28 games were against the division. This season, they won’t play their 15th game against the division until June 21, about 74 games in.

In the last few years, the teams have faced their division opponents 19 times in a total of 76 games. This season, they will face division opponents 13 times in 52 games.

It will be more difficult for a team to win their division by dominating last place or the bottom two teams. The Phillies, Braves and Mets all benefited from so many games last season against the Nationals and Marlins, with the Phils going 28-10 combined while the Braves and Mets went 27-11.

It was even more pronounced in the NL Central, where the Cardinals and Brewers had a combined 57 games against the 100-loss Reds, the 100-loss Pirates and an 88-loss Cubs team that would have been closer to the mid-90s if they themselves didn’t benefit from playing Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

The Cardinals went 38-19 in those games and 55-50 in all others. The Brewers went 33-24 against those three clubs and 53-52 against everyone else.

The balance of the schedule should result in fairer playoff races, especially with as many teams now entering as wildcards as by winning the division.

It will also result in fanbases seeing Superstars from cities outside of NL East more frequently. Phillies fans will get their first live look at Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez in April, with the Red Sox and Blue Jays visiting a week later. Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and the Angels will be in Philly for the second summer in a row. There is an August 4-13 stretch where the Phillies host the Royals and Twins for three games each, teams that have played a total of 15 games here in Citizens Bank Park’s two decades of existence.

Some other 2023 Phillies schedule notes:

• They only have one series against the NL East through May 24 – a three-pointer at home against the Marlins from April 10-12.

• Late April through May would be the toughest part of the season, with three games in Houston with no days off, then three at Dodger Stadium. The Phils then come home for two more tough opponents in the Red Sox and Blue Jays before heading west to play the Rockies and Giants in stadiums where they haven’t had much success lately.

It’s a series of games reminiscent of last May when the Phillies played a series of Mets, Mariners, Dodgers, Padres, Dodgers, Braves, Mets. Joe Girardi was fired less than a week later and the team started under manager Rob Thomson and a softer schedule.

• Almost half of the Phillies’ games against the Braves take place within a week of September 12-19. More than half of their encounters with the Mets (7) come in the last 10 games of the season.

• The Phillies are scheduled for two Sunday afternoon games at Peacock: April 23 against the Rockies and September 3 against the Brewers.

They are scheduled four times for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, all away from home: April 2 in Texas, April 30 in Houston, May 28 in Atlanta, and August 20 against the Nationals in the Little League Classic in Williamsport.

• Based on expected miles traveled in 2023, this handy chart ranks the Phillies as the least affected team in all of MLB Joe Doyle at ProspectsLive.com. The Phillies will travel just six more miles than last season. The Giants, meanwhile, will rack up more than 11,000 additional miles. Gabe’s boys are going to wear out those neck pillows.

Source: www.nbcsports.com