It’s here! Major League Baseball has revealed the shortened 2020 schedule, with the first couple of games set to begin on July 23rd. For the White Sox, their Opening Day won’t come until the following day on Friday, July 24th, vs. the Minnesota Twins in a 7:10 PM CT game at home.
Due to the divisional realignments, Ricky’s boys will be playing 40 games against the AL Central and 20 games against the NL Central – 6 of those coming against the Cubs. One major takeaway upon first glance is the home and road splits with opponents, particularly the Twins. Seven of the team’s ten games against Minnesota and Detroit will be at home, which plays just fine. Likewise, the Sox will have to spend seven of their ten games against Cleveland and Kansas City on the road. As Sox Machine’s Josh Nelson pointed out, these games will be key in determining the outcome of the season.
Let’s take a full look at the schedule! (Note: All times are CT)
July
Before the regular season gets underway, the Sox will play a trio of exhibition games. All three will be broadcasted on NBC Sports Chicago, per Ryan McGuffey.
- July 19 – at Cubs, 7:05 PM
- July 20 – Cubs, 7:10 PM
- July 22 – Brewers, 7:10 PM
Opening Day is part of a three-game series against the division-rival Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field. This marks the 16th time in the last 18 seasons the Sox have faced an AL Central opponent to start the year. Immediately following, the boys will take their first road trip of the season, an eight-game excursion against the Indians, Royals, and Brewers.
Schedule:
- July 24 – Twins, 7:10 PM
- July 25 – Twins, 1:10 PM
- July 26 – Twins, 1:10 PM
- July 27 – at Indians, 6:10 PM
- July 28 – at Indians, 6:10 PM
- July 29 – at Indians, 5:10 PM
- July 30 – Off-Day
- July 31 – at Royals, 7:05 PM
August
A key date in the month of August will be Thursday, August 13th, where the White Sox are still scheduled to play the Cardinals in MLB’s “Field of Dreams” game in Dyersville, Iowa. It will be part of a three-game series against St. Louis with the South Siders serving as the home team.
It’s also interesting to note that the Sox will be playing 11 of 15 games at Guaranteed Rate Field from August 5-20th – with a three-game series at Detroit and the Field of Dreams Game sandwiched in-between. Following three games at Wrigley, the Sox will return home for five more on the South Side from August 25-30th.
Schedule:
- August 1 – at Royals, 6:05 PM
- August 2 – at Royals, 1:05 PM
- August 3 – at Brewers, 7:10 PM
- August 4 – at Brewers, 7:10 PM
- August 5 – Brewers, 7:10 PM
- August 6 – Brewers, 7:10 PM
- August 7 – Indians, 7:10 PM
- August 8 – Indians, 1:10 PM
- August 9 – Indians, 1:10 PM
- August 10 – at Tigers, 6:10 PM
- August 11 – at Tigers, 6:10 PM
- August 12 – at Tigers, 12:10 PM
- August 13 – Cardinals, 6:15 PM, Field of Dreams Game in Iowa (FOX)
- August 14 – Off-Day
- August 15 – Cardinals, 1:10 PM
- August 16 – Cardinals, 1:10 PM
- August 17 – Detroit, 7:10 PM
- August 18 – Detroit, 7:10 PM
- August 19 – Detroit, 7:10 PM
- August 20 – Detroit, 1:10 PM
- August 21 – at Cubs. 7:15 PM
- August 22 – at Cubs, 7:15 PM
- August 23 – at Cubs, 1:20 PM
- August 24 – Off-Day
- August 25 – Pirates, 7:10 PM
- August 26 – Pirates, 7:10 PM
- August 27 – Off-Day
- August 28 – Royals, 7:10 PM
- August 29 – Royals, 7:10 PM
- August 30 – Royals, 1:10 PM
- August 31 – at Twins, 7:10 PM
September
The White Sox will have quite the finish to the regular season. The last 14 games will come against a combination of the Twins (home), Reds (away), Indians (away), and Cubs (home). Depending on how things play out, this could very likely be a crucial stretch against quality teams with playoff implications on the line.
Schedule:
- September 1 – at Twins, 7:10 PM
- September 2 – at Twins, 7:10 PM
- September 3 – at Royals, 7:05 PM
- September 4 – at Royals, 7:05 PM
- September 5 – at Royals, 6:05 PM
- September 6 – at Royals, 1:05 PM
- September 7 – Off-Day
- September 8 – at Pirates, 6:05 PM
- September 9 – at Pirates, 6:05 PM
- September 10 – Off-Day
- September 11 – Tigers, 7:10 PM
- September 12 – Tigers, 6:10 PM
- September 13 – Tigers, 1:10 PM
- September 14 – Twins, 7:10 PM
- September 15 – Twins, 7:10 PM
- September 16 – Twins, 7:10 PM
- September 17 – Twins, 1:10 PM
- September 18 – at Reds, 6:10 PM
- September 19 – at Reds, 5:10 PM
- September 20 – at Reds, 12:10 PM
- September 21 – at Indians, 5:10 PM
- September 22 – at Indians, 5:10 PM
- September 23 – at Indians, 5:10 PM
- September 25 – Cubs, 7:10 PM
- September 26 – Cubs, 6:10 PM
- September 27 – Cubs, 2:05 PM
Copious Notes
- MLB Network ranks the White Sox as having the fourth-easiest schedule in baseball, with opponents owning a combined winning percentage of .477 last season.
- Out of all the teams in Major League Baseball, the White Sox will be traveling 7th least with just 4,750 miles expected. The clubs who rank ahead of them are the Brewers, Cubs, Tigers, Cardinals, and Reds – so you can see the common trend here.
- The last time the White Sox opened a season vs. Minnesota was 2014.
- 15 of the first 19 games come against the AL Central, with the four vs. Milwaukee providing a little separation.
- 13 of the first 16 games come against teams who had winning records last season.
- The team will play 42-night games and 18-day games.
- There are only seven off-days built-in, counting the official start date of the season – July 23rd. The rest are July 30th, August 14th, August 24th, August 27th, September 7th, September 10th.
- The team announced that promotions planned for the original 2020 schedule have been postponed to a later date, which may include the 2021 season.
We want to hear your thoughts. What do you think of this schedule? Drop your comments and predictions below!
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