Major League Baseball has instituted a completely revamped schedule for the 2023 season and beyond, a change that benefits the Boston Red Sox for the foreseeable future.
The point of the new schedule is to create balance so that every team plays each other for at least one three-game series.
Here are the key changes:
— Each team will play 24 fewer games against the division, dropping from 76 to 52.
— Each team will play two fewer games against in-conference, nondivisional opponents, changing from 66 to 64.
— Each team will play 46 interleague games, an increase from 20 in the previous format.
The key factor for the Red Sox is the first change, as 24 fewer divisional games should drastically improve the team’s chances moving forward.
It’s hard to say whether Boston’s roster would have had enough juice this season had they been placed in a weaker division, but they certainly would have a much better record. There are nine teams in the American League with records over .500. The American League East holds four of them with the Red Sox just three wins shy of the mark.
Taking away six games each against the likes of the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles and replacing them with perennial series against low-level National League opponents such as the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals vastly decreases the Red Sox’s strength of schedule.
Sure, the Red Sox will now have to face the Los Angeles Dodgers and other top NL contenders each season, but the overall impact sways in Boston’s favor. Every single team the Red Sox oppose in the AL East is in postseason contention at the moment with budding farm systems. There’s a real case to be made that all four teams have a trajectory pointing up in the coming season, especially with Baltimore becoming an increasingly talented team at the MLB level and boasting the top farm system in baseball, according to MLB.com.
Replacing any of those games with NL contenders is a near wash, while switching out the Yankees for the Miami Marlins is a huge win, on paper at least.
The Red Sox had a myriad of issues with injuries mounting and certain positions that lacked production all season, but they also have 76 intense division games in the only division that does not feature an opponent that can be considered a break on the schedule.
As the AL East continues to build into a powerhouse, Red Sox fans should welcome the idea of the Cincinnati Reds coming to Fenway Park on May 10 and the Rockies on June 12 as opposed to extra rivalry games.
