More days off mean MLB schedule tweaks in 2018

It will be Beatles Night in Chicago when the Twins and White Sox make up Wednesday's rainout as part of an Aug. 21 doubleheader, and that's appropriate. Both teams have a lot of hard day's nights ahead of them.

For Minnesota, it means a stretch of 41 days, from Aug. 1 to Sept. 10, will be packed with 40 scheduled games. And Chicago has it even worse; adding a makeup game gives them 34 games in a stretch of 34 days, and a grueling 57 in 59.

No wonder that, while negotiating new rules about luxury taxes and draft-pick compensation, the players union also fought for one notable concession in the collective bargaining agreement that was ratified last winter. Beginning in 2018, the major league season will be 187 days long, not 183, giving players an extra four days off scattered throughout the season.

It might not seem like much over the course of six months, but those off days are treasured by players, a group of workers who don't have a weekend off from February through September or October. It might help prevent injuries, too, with players less prone to wear down during those long stretches without a day off.

Just one problem: Finding four more days on the calendar. With a postseason schedule three rounds long, and the addition of a wild-card game at the start, baseball's playoffs now routinely extend into the first few days of November, and MLB is reluctant to go much further. No team is willing to schedule doubleheaders, so the apparent solution is to open the season four days earlier, making it a weekend event. Opening Day 2018 is tentatively set for Thursday, March 29.

Get your parka ready, Twins fans.

"We certainly have some concerns about that. We talked to Commissioner [Rob] Manfred about it last week," Twins President Dave St. Peter said. "But it's only four days. And MLB has been very sensitive about allowing us to open on the road in most seasons. We feel the impact won't be too significant."

The change will impact spring training as well, forcing games to begin almost as soon as players arrive. Players also won a two-day reduction in the length of spring training, 43 days instead of 45 for pitchers and catchers, 38 days instead of 40 for position players. The Twins played games on 34 days last spring, and spring-host cities that invested millions in providing fancy new facilities don't figure to allow the number of games to be reduced. Tentatively, the Twins are planning a Grapefruit League opener Feb. 23, or about four days after the full squad reports.

Once the season begins, fans might notice another change, though probably not as much at Target Field as in other cities. Teams will be required to start the final game of a series earlier than 7 p.m. if one of the teams has a long flight ahead that night. The Twins already schedule most midweek "getaway" games during the day — 10 of them this season, most beginning at 12:10 p.m. — but some teams, notably the Red Sox and Angels, do not.

"We've earned a reputation for being fair on midweek day games," St. Peter said. "Some teams have taken a similar approach, some have not. But ultimately, anything that helps alleviate some of those more difficult schedule stretches will be a positive for us and the game."

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

Closers have made plenty of headlines in the AL Central recently. Here's a team-by-team look:

Allen's 1.32 ERA and nine saves in as many opportunities attests to his fast start. But he's still not Cleveland's best in the pen: Lefty Andrew Miller, who draws the most difficult assignments, has yet to give up a run in 16⅔ innings.

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Royals: Kelvin Herrera didn't give up a home run until June last year, and had only six all year. The righthander gave up four in his first 13 innings this season, his first as Kansas City's full-time closer. Herrera attributes the slip-ups to trying to mix in more sliders, and manager Ned Yost said he is not worried. "He'll get sharper with more work," Yost said.

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Tigers: Another year, another closer controversy in Detroit. This time, it's Francisco Rodriguez, 35, the major leagues' active saves leader with 437. After blowing back-to-back games last weekend at Oakland, K-Rod lost his job, which went to lefthander Justin Wilson instead. "It may not be permanent," manager Brad Ausmus hedged.

White Sox: David Robertson was 5-for-6 in save chances, but he hadn't been handed a lead in the first 12 days of May. That's why WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago reported that Nationals scouts were evaluating the righthander, in hopes of reigniting trade talks that weren't consummated last January.

The White Sox might be willing to listen this time.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Boston's 10-run inning last Sunday was the ninth double-digit inning surrendered by the Twins in franchise history, and the first since Oakland scored 10 in the fourth inning of an 18-3 victory at Target Field on Sept. 11, 2013. Five of the nine 10-run innings have occurred since 2003; in their first 21 seasons in Minnesota, the Twins allowed a double-digit inning only once, in 1967.

According to Baseball Reference, the worst inning in Twins history came on June 17, 2003, in Kansas City, where the Royals scored 12 runs in the sixth inning en route to a 14-7 victory.

12 Kirby Puckett, 1986

11 Harmon Killebrew, 1970

11 Killebrew, 1964

10 Miguel Sano, 2017

10 Jimmie Hall, 1964