MLB announces 2025 regular season schedule
Major League Baseball today announced its master 2025 regular season schedule, which will begin with the Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim, featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers with Oshu, Japan native Shohei Ohtani and Bizen, Japan native Yoshinobu Yamamoto against the Chicago Cubs with Kitakyushu, Japan native Shota Imanaga and Arakawa, Japan native Seiya Suzuki on Tuesday, March 18th and Wednesday, March 19th at the Tokyo Dome. Traditional Opening Day, featuring all 30 Major League Clubs, will take place on Thursday, March 27th.
The Tokyo Series presented by Guggenheim, which will be the latest installment of MLB’s WORLD TOUR, will mark the sixth time in which MLB opens its regular season in Tokyo, and it represents the 25th anniversary of the first-ever regular season games played in Japan in 2000 between the Cubs and the New York Mets. It will also be the first games in Japan since the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics opened the 2019 season at the Tokyo Dome. In addition to the openers in 2000 and 2019, other season openers in Japan took place in 2004 (NYY vs. TB); 2008 (BOS vs. OAK); and 2012 (SEA vs. OAK).
Next season will mark the second consecutive year in which an international series is featured to begin the season, following the March 2024 Seoul Series between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres. In addition to Chicago’s 2000 opener in Tokyo, the Cubs also played international games in 2023 during a two-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals in London. For the Dodgers, it marks their fourth international series, joining the 2014 season-opening series in Sydney, Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks; the 2018 series against the Padres in Monterrey, Mexico; and the aforementioned Seoul Series in 2024.
The 15 games on traditional Opening Day will feature four divisional matchups and five Interleague contests. Seven games are scheduled for Friday, March 28th, a full slate of 15 games will be played Saturday, March 29th, and 14 contests will be played on Sunday, March 30th. The traditional opening date of March 27th will mark the earliest in Major League history, excluding special season-openers at international venues. Previously, the earliest traditional Opening Day for MLB had been on March 28th in 2019 and 2024.
For 2025, prime Interleague rivals will increase their number of matchups from four to six while playing a pair of three-game series rather than a pair of two-game series. As a result, each of the 30 Clubs will play two fewer games against non-division league opponents.
“Rivalry Weekend” across MLB will take place on the weekend of May 16th-18th, featuring 11 series between prime Interleague rivals and four other regional matchups which include Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia; Colorado vs. Arizona; Detroit vs. Toronto; and Houston vs. Texas. In 2025, each of the 30 Clubs will host the same Interleague opponents as they hosted in 2023 (the 2026 schedule will feature Clubs hosting the same Interleague opponents as 2024).
The 95th All-Star Game presented by Mastercard will take place on Tuesday, July 15th at Truist Park in Atlanta, marking the ballpark’s first Midsummer Classic and the third overall to be hosted by the Braves in Atlanta, joining the 1972 contest at Atlanta Stadium and the 2000 All-Star Game at Turner Field. The final day of the 2025 regular season will be Sunday, September 28th, featuring eight divisional matchups.
Please see the accompanying files or visit MLB.com for the complete 2025 American League and National League regular season schedules. Individual Club schedules can be found at each of the respective 30 Club sites.
