ST. LOUIS – Nearly three-quarters through the 2022 season, the St. Louis Cardinals are already planning ahead for the next calendar year.
The Cardinals, in conjunction with Major League Baseball, released its 2023 regular season schedule on Wednesday.
For the first time in franchise history, the Cardinals are scheduled to play all 15 interleague opponents. This means the Cardinals will play multiple games against all 29 MLB opponents.
“This new format creates more consistent opponent matchups as clubs compete for postseason berths,” said Major League Baseball in a news release regarding 2023 schedules. “Additionally, this fan-friendly format provides fans with the opportunity to see more opponent matchups, with a particular focus on dramatically expanding our most exciting Interleague matchups, and offers more national exposure to the star players throughout our game.”
The Cardinals will open the 2023 season on Thursday, March 30, against an interleague opponent, the Toronto Blue Jays, as part of a six-game homestand. It’s the first time the Cardinals will begin a regular season without an interrupted start since 2017 and just the third time since 2010. The Opening Day matchup will be the Cardinals’ first-ever against an American League opponent.
Later in the season, the Cardinals will host the division-rival Chicago Cubs in London, England for a two-game series June 24-25. These are the Cardinals’ first-ever regular season “home” games outside of St. Louis, which means the Cardinals will play only 79 games at Busch Stadium compared to the usual 81 next year.
The final home series runs from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 versus the Cincinnati Reds.
The schedule takes on some drastic changes compared to previous seasons. The Cardinals will only play 52 games against division opponents, only 13 each with the Cubs, Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates. That’s down from 76 in previous years.
St. Louis will play 64 games total, 32 home and 32 road games, against out-of-division National League opponents. Six or seven games are scheduled against each NL opponent outside of the division.
The Cardinals will play 46 games against interleague opponents, a format to fit in matchups against all 15 American League teams. In previous seasons, the Cardinals would take on opponents from one particular division and the nearby Kansas City Royals.
More announcements regarding games times, ticket pricing and ticket availability for the 2023 season are expected in the future.