One day off in August.
A lot of factors catch people's eye when a new baseball schedule is released, like the Opening Day opponent, or the date of the home opener, or the interleague travel schedule. But for a manager whose job is juggling a pitching staff and keeping his players fresh, one feature of the Twins' 60-game 2020 schedule jumped out.
"It's 36 games in 37 days, something you wouldn't normally see," Baldelli noted of that grueling late-July-to-early-September stretch, in which Aug. 13 is the lone game-free day between a 16-day and a 20-day stretch of games. "You try to find ways to take advantage of those off days that you have, and having them clustered at the very end of the year [four off days in September] is not what you're really hoping for, but it doesn't mean we can't work through it."
The Twins' coronavirus-delayed season opens July 24 in Chicago against the White Sox, the start of a three-game series. The Twins then return to Minnesota for their Target Field opener, July 28 against the Cardinals, followed by four home games with the Indians and two against the Pirates.
The Twins' home schedule both opens and closes with interleague matchups: Cincinnati visits for the season's final three games, Sept. 25-27 at Target Field. In addition, the Twins will travel to Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Chicago's Wrigley Field.
If Cleveland and the Twins engage in another race for the AL Central title, Minnesota has the advantage with seven home games, and just three at Progressive Field. The Twins play 10 games against each of their AL Central rivals, but none of those season series is balanced; they play at Detroit for four games, at Kansas City for six and at Chicago vs. the White Sox for seven.
Helping with the summer heat: Only four non-Sunday games will be played during the day.
The Twins will also play one exhibition game, July 22 at Wrigley Field vs. the Cubs, though Baldelli said they are still discussing with other teams — likely the White Sox or Brewers — whether to schedule another one.
2020 TWINS SCHEDULE
July 24-26at Chi. White Sox
July 27off
July 28-29St. Louis
July 30-Aug. 2Cleveland
Aug. 3-4Pittsburgh
Aug. 5-6at Pittsburgh
Aug. 7-9at Kansas City
Aug. 10-12at Milwaukee
Aug. 13off
Aug. 14-17Kansas City
Aug. 18-20Milwaukee
Aug. 21-23at Kansas City
Aug. 24-26at Cleveland
Aug. 27-30at Detroit
Aug. 31-Sept. 2Chi. White Sox
Sept. 3off
Sept. 4-7Detroit
Sept. 8-9at St. Louis
Sept. 10off
Sept. 11-13Cleveland
Sept. 14-17at Chi. White Sox
Sept. 18-20at Chi. Cubs
Sept. 21off
Sept. 22-23Detroit
Sept. 24off
Sept. 25-27Cincinnati
