MLB, as you probably remember, introduced some schedule changes for the 2023 season.
With the intention of eliminating some of the intra-division games, the new schedule includes 13 games against their division rivals instead of 19.
It also has 52 games overall against division opponents.
Each organization will play six games against six opponents and seven games against four opponents in the same league for a total of 64 games.
There will also be 46 interleague games per team.
One of the reasons behind MLB playing so many divisional games until this point was to somewhat reduce travel.
Traveling has an impact on every team, for reasons that have to do with rest management.
The new schedule will treat every team differently when it comes to traveling, and Prospects Live’s Joe Doyle prepared a chart with the most benefitted and the most affected teams.
“New MLB rules will have every team playing each other at least once. Will have a huge impact on total travel. Here are winners and losers w/2022 comparisons: Giants: +11,084; Cardinals: +8,752; Athletics: +8,609. Brewers: -3,131; Rangers: -4,572; Tigers: -7,498,” he tweeted.
New MLB rules will have every team playing each other at least once. Will have a huge impact on total travel. Here are winners and losers w/2022 comparisons:
Giants: +11,084
Cardinals: +8,752
Athletics: +8,609Brewers: -3,131
Rangers: -4,572
Tigers: -7,498 pic.twitter.com/XpaHGED6Sl— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) January 19, 2023
It appears the San Francisco Giants will be on a plane for a long, long time during the 2023 season; but not more than the Oakland Athletics if you check the totals.
Still, in comparison to what they traveled in 2022, the Giants are going to see the biggest change.
Of course, there are also teams that will travel less than they did in 2022.
The Detroit Tigers will travel 7,498 fewer miles this year than last.
The team that will travel the least, however, are the Milwaukee Brewers.
We will have to wait until after the 2023 campaign to see if there are any complaints from the West Coast teams.
