The Washington Nationals released their 2020 regular season schedule Monday. Opening Day is set for Mar. 26 at the New York Mets. The 162-game schedule finishes Sept. 27 home versus the Philadelphia Phillies.
1. Early Season Highlights
Washington will open the season on the road with a three-game series at the Mets before a three-game trip to the Miami Marlins. The Nationals’ first home game will be against the Mets on Apr. 2 for a start of another three-game series against New York.
Then the Nationals will host the Marlins for a three-game series Apr. 7-9. That makes their first 12 games of the season within the division between two teams.
The Nationals will also face the Los Angeles Dodgers in two series in the first month of the season. First Apr. 10-12 in Los Angeles and then Apr. 21-23 at Nationals Park.
Washington will also travel to San Francisco to face the Giants later in the month, making for two trips to California in the first full month of the season.
2. Interleague Play
The Nationals will get the AL West, meaning they’ll face Seattle, Oakland, Texas, the Los Angeles Angeles, and Houston. Texas and LA will be on the road, while Oakland and Houston will be at Nationals Park. They’ll face Seattle both at home and on the road.
Washington will also have their normal home-and-home interleague rivals series with the Baltimore Orioles. Aug. 8-9 will be at Baltimore. The two teams will meet at Nationals Park Sept. 15-16.
3. First Series against Phillies and Braves
While the Nationals will get plenty of the Mets and Marlins early in the season, they don’t first face the Philadelphia Phillies until the end of May — May 29-31 at Philadelphia. Their first sight of the Atlanta Braves is not until Jun. 9-11 at Atlanta.
4. Tough Close to First Half of Season
Considering the stature of each team, the Nationals could be facing a tough finish going into the All-Star Break. They will face the Astros (July 3-5), Cardinals (July 7-9) and Phillies (July 10-12). Fortunately, each game will be played at Nationals Park. But after a slate like that, they may need the All-Star Break.
5. Plethora of NL East Division Games in Final Month
Washington will see plenty of both teams in the second half of the season. In fact 28 of the Nationals’ final 30 games will be all against NL East division openers. From Aug. 25 through Sept. 27, the Orioles will be the only non-divisional opponent the Nationals face.
That includes four-game slate at Atlanta from Sept. 21-24 followed by their final three games being at home against the Phillies Sept. 25-27.
With four of the NL East five teams building respectable contending teams, the final month or so of the season is sure to be decided in those bevy of games.
