Fantasy baseball: Impact of 2023’s new balanced schedule

Among the many changes major league baseball is implementing for the 2023 season is to have a more balanced schedule. The primary difference will be fewer divisional games, with each team also playing one series with every club in the opposite league, along with the continuation of an interleague home-and-away set with a designated geographical rival.

Last season’s version of the schedule saw each team playing 19 games against each club in their division, either six or seven games against the other 10 clubs in their league, and either three or four interleague games against six teams (including a rotating series of matchups against all the teams from one particular division). Starting in 2023, the schedule will include only 13 games against each divisional opponent with the same six or seven games against the other 10 clubs in their league. The interleague portion entails a three-game series with 14 teams and a pair of two-game rivalry series (like Mets–Yankees, Cubs–White Sox, etc.)

The impetus for the change helps to level the field for postseason qualification. Clearly, while the quality of opposition will still vary slightly per team, the top-to-bottom difference should be more clustered.

Source: www.espn.com