An early look ahead to the 2023 Chicago Cubs schedule

Opening Day is merely 175 days away – why wait to preview next season?

Whether you are feeling sad or relieved the Chicago Cubs 2022 campaign has come to an end, the year’s metaphorical book has closed and we are on to bigger and better things (hopefully). The season ended on Wednesday with a lopsided victory over the Cincinnati Reds, giving the Cubbies a final record of 74-88, good enough for a third-place finish in the NL Central.

This season, as a whole, may not have had the exact sentimental sting that 2021 provided, but it was not much more fun. There were some highs, including an electric debut by Christopher Morel and a couple All-Star nods given to Ian Happ and Willson Contreras. But there were many lows, including the trade rumors surrounding those same two All-Stars that wound up amounting to nothing. It was just an all-around bad year for the Cubs, and it is time to look ahead and move forward.

In 2023, the Cubs will play a very different type of schedule

The Cubs’ 2023 schedule, like all of Major League Baseball, is going to look extremely different than years past. For the first time in history, every team in both leagues will play at least one series against every other team in MLB. The schedule will remain at 162 games by adding interleague matchups and subtracting divisional games. For example: instead of Chicago heading to Seattle once every 3-9 years, as it is currently, they will make that trip west every other year, alternating years as the home team. The Cubs’ road schedule for interleague play includes trips to Oakland, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto next summer.

The Cubs will also be taking MLB abroad and playing a series against the St. Louis Cardinals in London, England. This is the second time MLB has done this – the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox played over there in the summer of 2019. The Cubs and Cardinals were scheduled to play this series in 2020, but that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We all hope that as the season winds down, the Cubs find themselves in the thick of a playoff race. The season is going to end with two huge three-game series on the road in Atlanta to take on the Braves and Milwaukee against the Brewers. If a race is in play for this team, these games are probably going to matter.

Here are a few dates to look out for as you plan to cheer on the Cubbies in person:

• March 30: Brewers @ Cubs (Opening Day)
• April 20-23: Dodgers @ Cubs
• May 15-17: Cubs @ Houston
• June 24-24: Cubs @ Cardinal (In London, England)
• July 7-9: Cubs @ Yankees
• July 25-26: Cubs @ White Sox
• August 15-16: White Sox @ Cubs
• September 22-24: Rockies @ Cubs (Final Home Series)
• September 26-28: Cubs @ Braves
• September 29-October 1: Cubs @ Brewers (Final Regular Season Series)

The change in schedule will be something we all have to adjust to in 2023 – but hopefully, the Cubs are playing meaningful baseball all season long, regardless of opponent.