Marlins open 2020 season at Phillies, end at Yankees, face daunting schedule throughout

The Miami Marlins’ Opening Day opponent is the same. The venue, however, is different.

The Marlins were originally supposed to host the Philadelphia Phillies at Marlins Park to begin the 2020 season. That was before the coronavirus pandemic shut MLB down two weeks before the season started and kept the sport in limbo for three-plus months.

Now, the Marlins begin their 60-game sprint of a regular season in Philadelphia, where they’ll face the Phillies in a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park starting July 24 at 7:05 p.m.

The 60-game season features a regionalized schedule, meaning the Marlins’ slate of games will come solely against National League East and American League East teams. Most games will be at night, with 7:10 p.m. first pitches for weekday home games in July and August (6:40 p.m. starts in September), 6:10 p.m. starts on Saturdays and 1:10 p.m. starts on Sundays.

The full breakdown:

▪ 10 games against each NL East team. The Marlins will play seven home games (one four-game series and one three-game series) and three road games against the Philadelphia Phillies, six home games (two three-game series) and a four-game road series against the Washington Nationals, six road games (two three-game series) and a four-game home series against the New York Mets, and seven road games (one four-game series and one three-game series) and a three-game home series against the Atlanta Braves.

▪ Six games, three home and three away, against the Tampa Bay Rays.

▪ Four games each, two home and two away, against the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. The Marlins’ home opener is a two-game set against the Orioles starting July 27.

▪ A three-game home series against the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 14-16

▪ A three-game road series against the New York Yankees on Sept. 25-27 to close out the season.

Put another way: The Marlins’ nine opponents feature four teams that made the playoffs last season (including the defending champion Nationals) and seven teams total that finished with at least a .500 record in 2019. By comparison, the two central divisions had five of 10 teams finish with winning records. Four west teams were better than .500 last year.

“We know that the National League East is a bear of a division and the American League East is equally as difficult division,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said last week, “and I guess if you look at just from winning percentages from 2019, we’re going to face the toughest schedule. ... We know it’s going to be a battle and whatever that schedule is, we’ll be ready to go when the bell rings.”

And while the schedule on in a typical year would look daunting for a team at a critical juncture in its rebuild, Marlins manager Don Mattingly once again made the reminder that “this is not a typical year.” So much can change so quickly in the span of a 60-game season that the Marlins needs to be prepared for whatever lies ahead of them.

“In a 162-game schedule, the best teams win,” Mattingly said. “The best team usually wins 162 game schedule because those are the teams that depth and over the long haul, things level out. But in a 60-game season, there is a lot of momentum. I said the other day to our players, if you go 8-4 out of the gate, you played 20 percent of your season and you’ve put pressure on teams. So, those momentum changes, you can really ride that. So, really, we’re concerned about ourselves. I know we’re going to be playing good teams. Everybody’s a good team, but everybody has a chance to scenario so you have to be ready for that.”

Full schedule

July 24-26: At Philadelphia Phillies

July 27-28: Vs. Baltimore Orioles

July 29-30: At Baltimore Orioles

July 31-Aug. 2: Vs. Washington Nationals

Aug. 4-6: Vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Aug. 7-9: At New York Mets

Aug. 11-12: At Toronto Blue Jays

Aug. 14-16: Vs. Atlanta Braves

Aug. 17-20: Vs. New York Mets

Aug. 21-24: At. Washington Nationals

Aug. 25-27: At New York Mets

Aug. 28-30: Vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Sept. 1-2: Vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Sept. 4-6: At Tampa Bay Rays

Sept. 7-9: At Atlanta Braves

Sept. 10-13: Vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Sept. 14-16: Vs. Boston Red Sox

Sept. 18-20: Vs. Washington Nationals

Sept. 21-24: At Atlanta Braves

Sept. 25-27: At New York Yankees