Major League Baseball (MLB) will open the 2020 season with two games scheduled on Thursday, 23 July.
The defending World Series Champions Washington Nationals will host the New York Yankees at 7.08 pm Eastern US Standard Time* (1.08 am Central European Time, 8.08 am Japan Time on Friday, 24 July). The Los Angeles Dodgers will host the San Francisco Giants at 10.08 pm Eastern US Standard Time (4.08 am Central European Time*, 11.08 am Japan Time on Friday, 24 July). *Observing daylight saving time.
Fourteen games are scheduled for Friday, 24 July and 15 games are scheduled for Saturday, 25 July.
The final day of the 2020 regular season is scheduled for Sunday, 27 September.
Jackie Robinson Day, which normally takes place on 15 April, will be celebrated on Friday, 28 August.
MLB will also honour the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Negro Leagues on Sunday, 16 August.
The 2020 season will also feature the first-ever MLB game played in the State of Iowa, the at Field of Dreams on Thursday, 13 August, in Dyersville.
The 30 clubs will begin the season with 30-player rosters, that will decrease to 26 as the season progresses. Each club will select its roster from a pool that includes up to 60 players. The players not on active rosters will be assigned to a taxi squad and will receive developmental work.
No other activity will be possible for players not on the active MLB roster, since Minor League Baseball cancelled its season. The decision is due to the fact that amid the COVID-19 pandemic it was impossible to schedule games with fans in the stands.
"We are a fans-in-the-stands business," commented Pat O'Conner, the President of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the Minor League Baseball governing body.
