For the first time since 2023, the Dodgers will not be the first team to open the Major League Baseball season next year.
Because, for the first time in three seasons, the team isn’t beginning its schedule a week early with an overseas trip.
While some of their players will be traveling the globe in early March, during the 2026 World Baseball Classic, the Dodgers will have a relatively normal travel schedule as a team next season — unlike the last two years when they opened in Tokyo and Seoul.
As MLB announced Tuesday with the league-wide release of the 2026 schedule, the Dodgers’ first game will be on MLB’s traditional opening day: A Thursday, March 26 contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
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And after that, the rest of their 162-game schedule will play out on one continent.
Here are a few highlights from MLB’s announcement Tuesday:
Opening weekend: The Diamondbacks will visit Dodger Stadium for three games March 26-28 to begin the season. It marks the fourth straight year that the Dodgers play at home during opening weekend.
First road trip: The Dodgers might not be leaving North America this year, but they will depart the country on their first trip. After visiting the Washington Nationals April 3-5, they go to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays April 6-8.
Jackie Robinson Day: Per usual, the Dodgers will be at home to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day on April 15, with the New York Mets as the opponent in the last of a three-game set.
First Giants series: The Dodgers and Giants will renew their rivalry for the first time April 21-23 with a three-game series in San Francisco. The Giants will make a return trip to Los Angeles for four games May 11-14.
Freeway Series: The Angels swept all six games they played against the Dodgers this year. The Dodgers will try to return the favor over two series next year, with three games at Angel Stadium May 15-17 (during MLB’s designated “rivalry weekend”) and three more at Dodger Stadium June 5-7.
First Padres series: The Dodgers and Padres won’t have to wait quite as long as they did this year for their first rivalry meeting, with the Dodgers scheduled to go to San Diego May 18-20.
Hitting the road (including Sacramento): The Dodgers’ travel will remain relatively balanced until June. From June 1 to July 1, the team will play 19 of 28 games on the road, including trips to Arizona; Pittsburgh and Chicago; and Minnesota, San Diego and — for the first time — Sacramento to face the relocating Athletics at their temporary minor-league ballpark.
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Padres on Independence Day: It will be a while before the Padres visit Los Angeles. The teams play again in San Diego June 26-28, before the Padres finally visit Chavez Ravine for a four-game set — over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, no less (July 2-5).
Northeast corridor: Some Dodgers players could get very familiar with a Philadelphia-New York commute next summer. After the team finishes the first half of the season with a Padres-Rockies-Diamondbacks homestand, attention will shift toward the All-Star Game in Philadelphia (where MLB will celebrate America’s 250th birthday). Then, the Dodgers open their second half with a trip to New York against the Yankees, three games back in Philadelphia against the Phillies, then another three-game set in New York against the Mets.
Fight to the finish: The schedule-makers seem to be banking on another close National League West division race next year. Because over the final 10 days of the season, the Dodgers play three games at home against the Giants (Sept. 18-20), three more at home against the Padres (Sept. 22-24) then finish the year with a three-game set in San Francisco (Sept. 25-27).
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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