Cubs 2020 Schedule Revealed: Season Opens Against Brewers at Wrigley, Features Very Uneven Divisional Splits

The MLB schedule won’t be officially announced until Monday evening, but Cubs Insider has gotten an advanced look at the Cubs’ slate for 2020. According to a source familiar with the situation, the Cubs will open at home against the Brewers on Friday, July 24 in the first of what will be some very uneven home/road splits with divisional opponents.

Rather than playing five games at each ballpark, the Cubs’ 10 games against their NL Central rivals will be on 7/3 splits. Getting the Brewers and Cardinals for seven games at Wrigley is great, but playing seven games in Cincy may be rough. The Cubs will also play the White Sox six times, the Indians and Royals four times each, and the Twins (at Wrigley) and Tigers just three times apiece.

Game times have not yet been announced, but it’s expected that weekday games other than Fridays will be at night. Weekend games will likely be during the day unless the Cubs are part of Sunday Night Baseball.

Here’s the full schedule (all times CT on Marquee, national games noted):

7/24 – Brewers 6:10 pm (ESPN)
7/25 – Brewers 12:05 pm (FOX)
7/26 – Brewers 1:20 pm
7/27 – @ Reds 5:40 pm
7/28 – @ Reds 5:40 pm
7/29 – @ Reds 5:40 pm
7/30 – @ Reds 5:10 pm
7/31 – Pirates 7:15 pm
8/1 – Pirates 7:15 pm
8/2 – Pirates 1:20 pm
8/3 – Royals 7:15 pm
8/4 – Royals 7:15 pm
8/5 – @ Royals 7:05 pm
8/6 – @ Royals 6:15 pm
8/7 – @ Cardinals 7:15 pm
8/8 – @ Cardinals 7:15 pm
8/9 – @ Cardinals 6:08 pm
8/10 – OFF
8/11 – @ Indians/Spiders 6:10 pm
8/12 – @ Indians/Spiders 5:10 pm
8/13 – Brewers 3:05 pm
8/14 – Brewers 7:15 pm
8/15 – Brewers 7:15 pm
8/16 – Brewers 1:20 pm
8/17 – Cardinals 7:15 pm
8/18 – Cardinals 7:15 pm
8/19 – Cardinals 7:15 pm
8/20 – OFF
8/21 – White Sox 7:15 pm
8/22 – White Sox 7:15 pm
8/23 – White Sox 1:20 pm
8/24 – @ Tigers 6:10 pm
8/25 – @ Tigers 6:10 pm
8/26 – @ Tigers 6:10 pm
8/27 – OFF
8/28 – @ Reds 6:10 pm
8/29 – @ Reds 5:10 pm
8/30 – @ Reds 12:10 pm
8/31 – OFF
9/1 – @ Pirates 6:05 pm
9/2 – @ Pirates 6:05 pm
9/3 – @ Pirates 12:35 pm
9/4 – Cardinals 7:15 pm
9/5 – Cardinals 7:15 pm
9/6 – Cardinals 6:08 pm
9/7 – Cardinals 3:10 pm
9/8 – Reds 7:15 pm
9/9 – Reds 7:15 pm
9/10 – Reds 7:15 pm
9/11 – @ Brewers 7:10 pm
9/12 – @ Brewers 6:10 pm
9/13 – @ Brewers 1:10 pm
9/14 – OFF
9/15 – Indians/Spiders 7:15 pm
9/16 – Indians/Spiders 7:15 pm
9/17 – OFF
9/18 – Twins 7:15 pm
9/19 – Twins 7:15 pm
9/20 – Twins 1:20 pm
9/21 – @ Pirates 6:05 pm
9/22 – @ Pirates 6:05 pm
9/23 – @ Pirates 6:05 pm
9/24 – @ Pirates 6:05 pm
9/25 – @ White Sox 7:10 pm
9/26 – @ White Sox 6:10 pm
9/27 – @ White Sox 2:10 pm


Ed. note: Some thoughts can be lost in the rush to publish, so I wanted to add an observation here while it’s still on my mind. The unbalanced home-road splits are a way to limit travel by cutting off one trip from each matchup, but they might not result in as much of an advantage one way or the other as they would under normal circumstances.

Divisional teams have unbalanced splits every season anyway, this just amps it up slightly. But what really balances things back out is the lack of most or all fans in ballparks, which will change the dynamics of home-field advantage. We’re not talking about huge factors one way or the other, of course, but it’s an interesting concept to mull over.

What I find even more intriguing than the notion that a visiting team won’t have to face legions of detractors is that neither team will have much at all in the way of noise. It’s been at least mildly disconcerting to watch the Cubs’ intrasquad scrimmages at Wrigley and I think that will have an impact on players if and when the season starts.

This could actually be an advantage for the Brewers in particular, since they don’t have to worry about the Cubs having more fans than them at Miller Park. That also means they don’t have to cook up ways to prevent Illinoisans from buying tickets, an exercise in futility that always makes me laugh.

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