2023 MLB schedule Red Sox

The Red Sox will open the 2023 season at Fenway Park against the Orioles on March 30.

Major League Baseball released the schedules Wednesday for all 30 teams for the 2023 season, which will have a more balanced format featuring matchups against all 29 other clubs for the first time. The Red Sox will play at least one series against every team in the National League and two fewer series against each of their AL East opponents. Instead of playing the Blue Jays in six series, for instance, the Sox will take on the Blue Jays in four series.

The Sox have struggled against AL East opponents this year, going 16-34 (3-12 against Toronto with Wednesday night’s 3-2 loss in 10 innings). Manager Alex Cora joked that the reduction in series against AL East opponents was “one year late,” before adding that the reduction in games against divisional foes doesn’t really matter.

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“You still have to play them and you have to beat them,” Cora said. “That’s the bottom line. We always talk about dominating the division and we haven’t done that.”

The Red Sox will play 52 division games, 64 other intraleague games, and 46 interleague games. In 2022, the breakdown was 76 division games, 66 other intraleague games, and 20 interleague games.

There will be four series against the Yankees, beginning June 9-11 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will come to Fenway for the first time June 16-18.

The Sox will travel to San Francisco for the first time since 2016 to face the Giants July 28-30. They also will travel to seven other National League sites in 2023: Milwaukee (April 21-23), Philadelphia (May 5-7), Atlanta (May 9-10), San Diego (May 19-21), Arizona (May 26-28), Chicago (July 14-16), and Washington (Aug. 15-17). They will make three West Coast trips.

Eight National League teams will head to Fenway Park: Pittsburgh (April 3-5), St. Louis (May 12-14), Cincinnati (May 30-June 1), Colorado (June 12-14), Miami (June 27-29), New York (July 21-23), Atlanta (July 25-26), and Los Angeles (Aug. 25-27).

The series with the Dodgers will feature the return of Mookie Betts, his first time at Fenway since his final game with the Sox on Sept. 29, 2019.

Interleague play will alternate each year. For example, since the Dodgers are coming to town in 2023, the Red Sox will visit Dodger Stadium in 2024. Likewise, with the Sox visiting Philadelphia next year, the Phillies will visit Fenway in 2024. The two series against the Braves marks the only time the Red Sox will play an interleague opponent home and away.

“It’s great for the fan bases,” Cora said. “I think if you’re a baseball fan, it’s great. You’re playing everybody. Great. I think for the fanbases, for the regular baseball fan, it should be fun. You [can now] see Rafael Devers play against the Giants over there.”

The Angels will be in town for the Patriots Day game April 17 as the teams conclude a four-game series.

The final home series will be against Tampa Bay (Sept. 26-27), and the regular season will conclude with a four-game trip to Camden Yards in Baltimore (Sept. 28-Oct. 1).

Dalbec at shortstop

With Xander Bogaerts’s back hurting and Christian Arroyo banged up from his slide into first Tuesday, the Sox decided to put Bobby Dalbec at shortstop Wednesday.

Dalbec had just four career innings at shortstop in the big leagues. The last time he played it regularly? In high school, when he commanded that position full time.

Nonetheless, Dalbec is a good enough athlete and feels comfortable enough to play the position — even at this level.

“I’ve taken a lot of ground balls there,” said Dalbec, who converted all of his chances at short on Wednesday. “And I have taken ground balls there in the shift.”

Kiké Hernández, who got the start at second, could have played shortstop, but since Dalbec has played a lot of shortstop in the shift and is more comfortable throwing from the left side of the infield (including double-play turns), the Sox preferred this alignment.

Taking it a day at a time

Bogaerts, Tommy Pham (back), and Arroyo are day to day. Both Pham and Arroyo said after Wednesday’s game that they felt OK to play Thursday … Trevor Story (right wrist fracture) played his first rehab game for Double A Portland. He was 0 for 1 with a walk and a sacrifice fly. Cora said the next steps for Story will depend on the second baseman’s progression … Nate Eovaldi (right shoulder inflammation) played catch on the field.

Julian McWilliams can be reached at . Follow him on Twitter @byJulianMack.