On Wednesday, the Rangers and a few other clubs finalized their home game start times for the 2020 regular season. With the schedule finalized, Rangers fans can wholly proceed to start planning on their first, second, and possibly their eighty-first trip to the new Globe Life Field. Major League Baseball released the matchups in late August, but now that the club announced the game times, let’s take a closer look at some key points to get ready for the 2020 campaign.
A start time for first regular season game at Globe Life Field
The Rangers’ home opener begins at 3:05 on Tuesday, March 31st. The club opens the season with a four-game series in Seattle starting Thursday, March 26th. Starting on March 31st, it’ll be the first of three trips to Arlington for Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, and the Halos. The Angels other two visits come early June (1st-3rd), and late July (24th-26th). All four AL West foes will get their first taste of Globe Life Field in April.
Globe Life Field was transformed in 2019, but 2020 is going to be the best yet. #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/Aydy4mcs1f
— Globe Life Field (@GlobeLifeField) January 2, 2020
A home-heavy April, but potential road trips to some cool temperatures
After the four-gamer in Seattle to open the season, the Rangers go on a stretch where twelve of their next fourteen games occur at Globe Life Field. Yep, 14.8% of the club’s home games come between March 31st and April 15th. In April, the Rangers enjoy eighteen games at home with a brief eight-game road schedule (not including the opening series). However, it’s a brutal eight games on the road if you’re not a weather person. The team travels to Denver, Chicago, and Philadelphia for those eight games, all with potentially extreme weather conditions. It doesn’t get much better to start May as the Rangers travel to Boston and Cleveland to start the month (adding in Tampa Bay to the end of that roadie).
The 2020 Interleague schedule
In the 2020 season, the American League West matches up with the National League East. Rangers’ fans will be able to witness the World Champion Washington Nationals (May 26th-May 28th). The Nats make their first trip to Arlington since their first year moving from Montreal to Washington DC, 2005. An exciting Atlanta Braves team and Ronald Acuna Jr. visit Globe Life Field between June 28th and July 1st. It’ll be the traditional six-year period since the lowly 2014 club shocked and knocked off a top tier Braves team in September.
The two-and-two series features Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, and Plano East’s own Jake Arrieta and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Rangers go to Philly in mid-April while the Phillies head to Arlington August 11th and 12th. Rangers fans will still be able to see Nolan Arenado, even if the trade doesn’t happen, as the Rockies head to Arlington August 24th and 25th. Texas heads to Denver in April which may put a damper on the “How far can Joey Gallo launch a baseball in the Mile High?” theory. The two NL East road series include heading to the Big Apple to take on the Mets in September (18th-20th) and going to Miami against the Marlins July 7th-9th, the week before the All-Star break.
The Lone Star Series….. Late in the season????
If you count the past two seasons, the Rangers and Astros met a total of two times in August and September combined. There’s a small change in 2020 with a road series in Houston August 21st-23rd, and a sequence in Arlington September 11th-13th (6 games total). The Rangers do have a stretch where they go two separate times to Houston for six games in nineteen days but remember you have to take baby steps. For the rest of the AL West, the Rangers’ last road game against the division comes September 6th in Oakland. The Rangers end the season with a six-game homestand against the Athletics and Mariners.
Keep tabs on game time changes
The club didn’t change a whole lot when it comes to game times, but there are a few subtle alterations with the new roofed ballpark. Sunday games start a half-hour earlier than average, they’ll begin at 1:35 rather than the traditional 2:05 start time. On Saturday, home games between April and mid-May and after the All-Star break, game times start an hour earlier at 6:05. It’s a common tradition for teams that play night games on Saturday to start an hour earlier (more than half of MLB teams do this). Weeknight games still begin at the regular 7:05 start time, but the Rangers have two “getaway” day games that start at 3:05 (April 15th vs. the Yankees and May 28th vs. the Nationals). Outside of those two and opening day, the Rangers have only four weekday day games on the schedule.
BREAKING: Game times are here! pic.twitter.com/chNWM9e4Yf
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) January 8, 2020
The layout is complete, and we’re nearing that one month window until pitchers and catchers report. Globe Life Field remains on schedule for its debut in March, and long await of an air-conditioning ballpark is upon us. So get your Rangers red April 3rd and your Texas baby blue April 5th against the Rays, it’s baseball time.. in Texas (almost).
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