Houston Astros schedule breakdown for 2020 regular season

The Houston Astros schedule for the 2020 regular season has been released.

At long last, we finally have an official schedule for the 2020 season. As expected, the Astros will play a total of 60 games, with 40 of those coming against their AL West rivals and the other 20 against the NL West teams, and they’ll be traveling a lot of miles away from Houston. Check out our ranking of their nine opponents this season.

The Astros open the season at home against the Mariners on July 24 with first pitch scheduled for 8:10 p.m. CT. They play four against the Mariners and then host the Dodgers for two games before hitting the road for the first time. It’ll be a nine-game swing against the Angels, Diamondbacks and A’s.

They’ll also face the Dodgers on the road for a two-game series Sept. 12 and 13. Interestingly, they don’t face the Rangers at all until September. The in-state rivals first come to Minute Maid Park for a pair of three-game sets. The Astros’ only trip to the new Globe Life Field will come in the final series of the regular season, Sept. 24 – 27.

Some of the matchups aren’t exactly balanced. Against the Mariners, the Astros play three games in Seattle and seven in Houston. Conversely, they play seven games in Oakland but only host the A’s three times. Rather than having teams play two five-game series against their division rivals to reduce travel, MLB has opted to stick to the typical structure of series being two, three or four games, leading to some of the inequity we see.

Their interleague slate consists of four games against each of the Dodgers and Rockies, plus six against the Diamondbacks, all of which are evenly split between home and away. But they only face the Giants in a three-game set at home and see the Padres in a three-game set in San Diego. It’s kind of a shame they don’t get to play in San Francisco’s great stadium.

Astros Schedule Notes

More from Climbing Tal's Hill

• Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
• Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
• Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
• Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
• Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer

Speaking of travel, the Astros will be doing quite a bit of it. The total mileage they will travel this season is 13,954, which is second-most in the game. Only the Rangers will travel more miles this season. By contrast, the Brewers will travel less than 4,000 miles. Remind me how being in the AL West is an advantage.

In another AL West-related tidbit, start times are a little different this season. Of their 60 games, 25 will start at 8:10 p.m. CT. Only eight will start at the typical 7:05/7:10/7:15 time slot we see for home games. Many of those 8:10 start times are road games in the Pacific Time Zone, and they don’t have any games starting later than that. So no more 9 p.m. start times this year.

Other than that, their schedule is evenly balanced between home and away, though they play only nine games at home in September and 16 on the road. They play 15 home games in August and 13 on the road, and have six at home and one on the road in July.

Key Series

Obviously the pair of two-game series against the Dodgers will be prime television. It’s a rematch of the 2017 World Series and the first time the teams will have seen each other since the news of the sign stealing scandal broke. Some of the Dodgers players had plenty to say on the matter, so we’ll see if the Astros are in their heads or if they’re focused on revenge.

The good news is there likely won’t be fans at Dodger Stadium when the Astros play there in September, but it’ll be intriguing nonetheless. The series against the Rangers in Arlington to end the season will be interesting, as will their six games against the Diamondbacks, who look to be among the better teams they’ll face this year.

Assuming they actually complete the season, it should be an interesting one for everyone involved. Buckle up, Astros fans, and let’s hope for a fun, albeit short, campaign for the hometown nine.