2019 Major League Baseball season

2019 MLB season
League Major League Baseball
Sport Baseball
Duration March 28 – October 30, 2019
Number of games 162
Number of teams 30
Draft
Top draft pick TBD
Picked by Baltimore Orioles
Regular season
League Postseason
World Series

The 2019 Major League Baseball season will begin on March 28 and is scheduled to end on September 29. The postseason will begin on October 1. The World Series is set to begin on October 22 and a potential Game 7 will be played on October 30 if necessary. The entire schedule was released on August 22, 2018.[1]

The 90th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held on July 9 at Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians.

Schedule

As has been case since 2013, teams were scheduled to play 19 against each division opponent for a total of 76 games, and six or seven games against each team from the other two divisions for a total of 66 games. The primary inter-league match-ups are to be AL East vs NL West, AL Central vs NL East and AL West vs NL Central

The International season will begin on March 20 and 21 with the Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners being played in Tokyo, Japan, at the Tokyo Dome.[2]

Excluding international openers, March 28 will be the earliest Opening Day in history. The previous earliest was March 29 of the 2018 season.[3]

The Mexico Series will feature four games during the season. The first will feature the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds and two games will be played in Monterrey, Mexico, on April 13 and 14. The other series, also in Monterrey, will feature two games between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Angels on May 4 and 5.[4]

The Kansas City Royals will face the Detroit Tigers at TD Ameritrade Park on June 13, two days before the College World Series.[5]

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will play two games at Olympic Stadium in London, England, on June 29 and 30 making it the first ever regular season series in London under a two-year commitment.[6]

The 2019 MLB Little League Classic at BB&T Ballpark in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, coinciding with the Little League World Series, will return to the schedule for the third straight year. It will be played between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs on August 18.[7]

Managerial changes

General managers

Offseason

Team Former Manager Reason For Leaving New GM Story/Accomplishments
Baltimore Orioles Dan Duquette Fired TBA Duquette was fired on October 3, 2018, along with manager Buck Showalter, after the Orioles had the worst record in franchise history at 47–115 (.290). Duquette was hired as general manager after the 2011 season.[8].


Field managers

Offseason

Team Former Manager Interim Manager Reason For Leaving New Manager Story/Accomplishments
Cincinnati Reds Bryan Price Jim Riggleman Fired TBA Price was fired on April 19, 2018, after starting the season with a 3–15 (.167) record. In four seasons, Price finished with a 279–387 (.419) record with no playoff appearances. Bench Coach Jim Riggleman served as interim manager for the remainder of the 2018 season.[9]
St. Louis Cardinals Mike Matheny Mike Shildt Mike Shildt Matheny was fired on July 14, 2018, after starting the season with a 47–46 (.505) record. In seven seasons, Matheny finished with a 591–473 (.555) record with four playoff appearances, winning the National League pennant in 2013. Hitting coach John Mabry and assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller were also dismissed, and bench coach Mike Shildt was named interim manager. Shildt has no major league managing experience, but has managed in the Cardinals minor league system.[10] On August 28, Shildt's "interim" title was dropped as he was named the new Cardinals manager.[11]
Texas Rangers Jeff Banister Don Wakamatsu TBA Banister was fired on September 21, 2018, after four seasons with a record of 325–313 (.509) record. Banister finished in first place in his first two seasons as manager and amassed a 2–6 (.250) in the playoffs. Bench coach Don Wakamatsu served as interim manager for the remainder of the 2018 season.[12]
Baltimore Orioles Buck Showalter None Showalter was fired on October 3, 2018, after being the manager for almost nine seasons with a record of 669–684 (.494). He was fired after the Orioles went 47–115 (.290) during the 2018 season. Showalter led the Orioles to the postseason three times, including the 2014 American League Championship Series, where they were swept by the Kansas City Royals.[13]
Toronto Blue Jays John Gibbons Contract Not Renewed On September 26, 2018, the team announced that manager John Gibbons will not be retained for the 2019 season. In his second stint with the team, Gibbons finished with a 498–494 (.502) with two playoff appearances.[14]
Los Angeles Angels Mike Scioscia Resigned On September 30, 2018, it was announced that Mike Scioscia will be stepping down as manager of the Los Angeles Angels after 19 years with a 1650–1428 (.536) record. He led the Angels to six division titles and won the 2002 World Series. He also won the American League Manager of the Year twice during his tenure.[15]
Minnesota Twins Paul Molitor Reassigned On October 2, 2018, it was announced that Paul Molitor will be offered a new role in the Twins organization and will be out as manager after four years. Molitor finished with a 305–343 (.471) record with one playoff appearance in 2017, in which he was named the American League Manager of the Year after the season.[16]


Venues

This will be the Texas Rangers' final season at the Ballpark in Arlington where the team will play its final home game against the New York Yankees on September 29, before moving to Globe Life Field in 2020.

Broadcast rights

Television

National

This will be the sixth year of the current eight-year deals with Fox Sports, ESPN, and TBS. Fox will air eight weeks of baseball on Saturday Nights leading up to the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game which will also air on Fox. Fox then will televise Saturday afternoon games for the final four weeks of the season. FS1 will televise games on Tuesday and on Saturday both during the afternoon and night. ESPN will televise games on its flagship telecast Sunday Night Baseball as well as Monday and Wednesday nights. TBS will televise Sunday afternoon games for the last 13 weeks of the regular season. Fox and ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecasts will be exclusive; all other national telecasts will be subject to local blackout.

TBS will televise the National League Wild Card Game, Division Series, and the Championship Series. ESPN will televise the American League Wild Card. FS1 and MLB Network will televise the American League Division Series. Fox and FS1 will televise the American League Championship Series. The World Series will air exclusively on Fox for the 20th consecutive year.

Radio

National

References

  1. ↑ Randhawa, Manny; Thornburg, Chad (August 22, 2018). "Key Dates Of 2019 MLB Schedule". Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ Ryan Divish (May 1, 2018). "Mariners To Open The 2019 Season In Japan Vs The A's". SeattleTimes.com.
  3. ↑ Associated Press (August 22, 2018). "MLB slate includes regular-season games in Tokyo, London and Mexico". ESPN.com.
  4. ↑ Jacob Chatfield (August 22, 2018). "MLB Schedules Series Monterrey Mexico". Call To The Pen.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ Wolf, Jordan (June 22, 2018). "Royals, Tigers to play game in Omaha in '19". MLB.com. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  6. ↑ Niall Gray (May 8, 2018). "Yankess Red Sox Will Play In London In 2019". MLB.com. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  7. ↑ Randhawa, Manny (August 19, 2018). "Bucs, Cubs to match up in 2019 LL Classic". MLB.com.
  8. ↑ "Manager Buck Showalter GM Dan Duquette Baltimore Orioles Clean House". ESPN.com. October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  9. ↑ Sheldon, Mark. "Reds dismiss Price; Riggleman named interim". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  10. ↑ Langosch, Jenifer. "Cardinals dismiss manager Matheny". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  11. ↑ Langosch, Jenifer (August 28, 2018). "Cards remove interim tag, name Shildt manager". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  12. ↑ Sullivan, T.R. (September 21, 2018). "Jeff Banister out as Rangers manager". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  13. ↑ ESPN News Services (October 3, 2018). "Manager Buck Showalter, GM Dan Duquette out after Orioles' 115-loss season". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  14. ↑ Calcaterra, Craig (September 26, 2018). "Blue Jays to announce that John Gibbons will not return as manager". NBC Sports.com. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  15. ↑ Associated Press (September 30, 2018). "After 19 years, Mike Scioscia stepping down as Angels manager". abc7.com. Associated Press. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  16. ↑ Bollinger, Rhett (October 2, 2018). "Molitor out as Twins manager; new role offered". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
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