The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their 2023 schedule on Wednesday afternoon and there are some major changes to the format. The new schedule will have them playing fewer division games and more interleague games, to the point that they will play all 29 other teams next year.
There’s a sharp decrease in NL Central games in 2023, going from 76 games this year (19 versus each opponent) to 52 games (13 versus each opponent). Those games will be turned into games against the American League, with 46 games total against the 15 AL teams. It’s three games versus each team, plus an extra game against the club deemed to be their natural interleague rival. In the case of the Pirates, that’s the Detroit Tigers.
The schedule opens up on March 30th for all 30 teams. The Pirates will begin a three-game series that day on the road against the Cincinnati Reds. The home opener is April 7th against the Chicago White Sox. The AL teams visiting Pittsburgh in addition to Chicago and Detroit will be the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Oakland A’s, Cleveland and the New York Yankees. The schedule closes on October 1st at home against the Miami Marlins, and the All-Star game is July 11th.
