Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- MLB has an off day scheduled for Wednesday after the All-Star Game, following a long-standing tradition.
- The league used to have both Wednesday and Thursday off, but a single Thursday night game was added in 2018.
- The regular season resumes on Friday with a full 15-game slate, including key matchups that will impact the trade deadline.
If the drama of the Home Run Derby and the star power of the All-Star Game has you itching for more MLB action ... well, you're going to have to wait a little bit.
A quick look at the MLB schedule shows a whole lot of nothing on Wednesday — not a single game around the league. And Thursday is hardly any better, with just one game between the Phillies and Mets at Citi Field to tide us over. The other 28 teams are off until Friday, when the second half resumes in earnest around the Majors.
We understand if you’re confused why baseball would forego two whole days, especially after a thrilling All-Star Weekend. Here’s why there are no MLB games immediately after the Midsummer Classic.
Why are there no MLB games on Wednesday, July 15? The All-Star break lingers
Historically, the MLB All-Star Game has always been held on the second or third Tuesday in July, with an off day scheduled for the following Wednesday. The entire league used to have both Wednesday and Thursday off, until Rob Manfred decided to add a single Thursday night game to the schedule back in 2018.
The reason why comes down to the unique structure of baseball's schedule, and the fact that it's organized around three- or four-game series. The league could end the first half on, say, a Thursday, and hold All-Star weekend Friday through Sunday, but then you're asking teams to resume the regular season on a Wednesday or Thursday and creating an awkward gap of time until the next week. (Obviously, MLB doesn't want to make its best players — and especially its best pitchers — compete in the All-Star Game one day and then fly to a different city to play a meaningful game the next.)
Assuming Major League Baseball continues holding the All-Star Game on Tuesday, it’ll be interesting to see if the league ever considers finding something to air on Wednesday or Thursday. Both nights make sense for the MLB Futures Game, which typically airs on the weekend before the All-Star Game but tends to fly under the radar in that spot.
When does MLB schedule resume?
Don't worry, though: We won't have to wait too long for the regular season to be back in our lives, and it's returning with a bang this weekend. After Philly and New York renew their rivalry on Thursday night, MLB will have a full 15-game slate on Friday, including a massive AL East doubleheader between the surprising Tampa Bay Rays and the suddenly surging Boston Red Sox.
That's not the only marquee series to keep an eye out for. The Dodgers will stay on the East Coast to begin a star-studded weekend series against the Yankees in the Bronx, while Pirates-Guardians, White Sox-Blue Jays, Rangers-Braves, Marlins-Brewers and Twins-Cubs will all go a long way toward determining which teams will be buying and which will be selling at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Distract yourself with some World Cup action, and then baseball will be back before you know it.
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