The shortened Major League Baseball season opens Thursday night when the New York Yankees travel to the nation’s capitol to take on the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals. Other teams start their season the following day. ESPN isn’t waiting that long to put the league back on its airwaves though.
As for MLB Network, it will carry a full week of exhibition action leading up the start of the season. It opens the schedule on Saturday with the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates.
MLB NETWORK EXHIBITION BASEBALL SCHEDULE
- Saturday, July 18th: Cleveland Indians vs Pittsburgh Pirates, 7 PM ET
- Sunday, July 19th: New York Mets at New York Yankees, 7 PM ET
- Monday, July 20th: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees, 6 PM ET
- Monday, July 20th: San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Angels, 9 PM ET
- Tuesday, July 21st: Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals, 2 PM ET
- Tuesday, July 21st: Colorado Rockies at Texas Rangers, 8 PM ET
- Wednesday, July 22nd: Minnesota Twins at Chicago Cubs, 8 PM ET
Awful Announcing’s Joe Lucia writes that there are several reasons to watch the exhibition games. They could answer several questions fans have about what baseball on TV will look like in 2020.
“How will the fake crowd noise sound? Will camera angles be different? Will we be able to hear players on the field? If the broadcasters are calling games from a studio instead of the booth, how different will they sound? Will the fan cut-outs in parks going that route look ridiculous?”
With none of the four major American sports leagues in action since March, it makes sense that the two networks would want to put Major League Baseball on TV just as quickly as they can. ESPN tried to fill the void with games from South Korea’s KBO. While the broadcasts have been fun and interesting, the time difference and lack of familiar players has not helped with viewership.
