The New York Yankees will have a tough schedule going into 2020. They will play their normal division games against the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees interleague games will be against the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Pjiladelphia Phillies, and Miami Marlins.
The Yankees will also play three exhibition games before the season starts. They will play at Citi Field on Saturday July 18th. Then they will play the last two games at home when they host the Mets on Sunday July 19th and then playing their final game against the Phillies on July 20th.
Washington Nationals
First off is the Yankees Opening Day opponent, the defending World Series champion Nationals. They will play July 23rd before having an off day. Then, they will play July 25th and 26th. The Nationals are coming off of their first ever World Series title after defeating the Houston Astros in seven games. This series is interesting because the pitching matchup will most likely feature Gerrit Cole vs Max Scherzer on Opening Day. Last year, Cole had his best year going 20-5, and he had a 2.50 ERA in 33 games. Scherzer also had a great year going 11-7 with a 2.92 ERA. This matchup features a lot of hype, and it may be the highlight of Opening Weekend.
Philadelphia Phillies
It will be an early season battle and a rematch of the 2009 World Series when the Yankees face the Phillies. Former-Yankee manager Joe Girardi and former-Yankee shortstop Didi Gregorius will return to the Bronx. Both endured great success with the Yankees, and if there were fans in the stands, it is possible that both men would have received ovations.
These team will meetup in July where they will play on four straight days. July 27th and 28th the Yankees will travel two hours south to the City of Brotherly Love for a two-game set. Then on July 29th and 30th Girardi and Gregorius will return to the Bronx for the final two games of this four-game stretch.
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox no longer have Mookie Betts. This will not change the fact that Boston can still be a thorn in the Yankees side. However, the rivalry will be quite different this year. This historic rivalry has seen many hostile environments and crazy games. This year it will be played in near silence with no fans to cheer for their team.
Tensions are always high between these teams, but with strict rules to protect the players, both teams will need to keep their emotions in-check. The cores of both teams have engaged in fights with each other before, but fighting has been banned making the season series between these teams very interesting.
The first matchup between the Yankees and the Red Sox will be an early season battle. They will meet in a three-game set in New York which is set to take place from July 31st-August 2nd. The Red Sox will come back to New York for a four-game set which will take place August 14-17th. Finally these teams will meet in Boston for the first time in September from the 18th-20th. It will be a very interesting year for these two teams but this rivalry never disappoints and it will be an exciting battle between the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Baltimore Orioles
Last year this Orioles team was dominated by the Yankees in historic fashion. Although the Orioles do not have a great team on paper, they will look for revenge. The first meeting between the Yankees and Orioles will be a three-game set in Baltimore. This will take place August 3rd-5th. Their next meeting will again be in Baltimore for another three-game set which will take place September 4th-6th. The Orioles will make their first and only trip to the Bronx for a four-game series which will take place September 10th-13th.
Tampa Bay Rays
Next, is the Yankees biggest threat in the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays. These teams will meet for ten games in 2020. The first series between these two will be a four-game set in St. Petersburg from August 6th-9th. This will be the only time the Yankees will travel to St. Petersburg. The Rays will then travel to New York for a three-game set, taking place August 18th-20th. Then these teams will meet again in New York August 31st-September 2nd. This year a new chapter will be written in the Yankees-Rays rivalry.
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a bright young team with amazing talent. These are two teams that met in the fall classic back in 1996 and 1999. With the rosters these teams have, this could be a World Series preview. The Yankees will host the Braves for a two-game set August 11th and 12th. Two weeks later the Yankees will head down to Atlanta to face the Braves August 25th and 26th. This can be an epic battle of young talent and these two series could be very memorable.
New York Mets
This year’s Subway Series will be in a setting never before experienced because of the lack of fans. Every year when the Yankees and Mets meet, it is in front of a split group of fans. Mets fans travel to the Bronx to make their voices heard when the team tries to take down the crosstown rival. When playing at Citi Field, Yankees fans travel to Queens to takeover Citi Field and cheer for the Yankees to defeat the rival Mets.
The trash talking between the fans creates a unique environment, but this year’s Subway Series will truly be like no-other. Instead of playing in front of Yankees and Mets fans this year it will be in the silence. Instead of hearing rowdy Yankees and Mets fans they will hear the sounds of the four train in the Bronx and the busy traffic in Flushing, Queens.
This year’s version of the Subway series will kickoff in Queens in August. The Yankees and Mets will meet at Citi Field for a three-game set which will take place August 21st-23rd.Then the Mets will head to the Bronx less than a week later for another three-game set which will take place August 28th-30th. It will be a Subway Series to remember when the World Series contending Yankees will take on the up-and-coming Mets, who just missed a NL Wild Card in 2019.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays are a very young and talented team. They are a team that can shock the baseball world. With young talent like Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Bo Bichette and Free-agent signing Hyun-Jin Ryu the Blue Jayys have a ton of potential. The Blue Jays may be a thorn in the Yankees side in 2020.
The teams will meet in September for three critical series. The first matchup will take place in Toronto for a three-game set which will take place September 7th-9th. The next time these teams will meet is in the Bronx. September 15th-17th. The final series will be a four-game set. They play September 21st-24th. This rivalry can be reignited with the spark from young Blue Jays talent, making this year’s season series highly anticipated.
Miami Marlins
The Yankees final matchup of the 2020 season will be a rematch of the 2003 World Series against the Marlins. This will be the second time the Marlins head to the Bronx since Derek Jeter bought the Marlins back in 2017. The Marlins and Yankees will meet September 25th-27th for the final weekend of the regular season.
Outlook
This upcoming season will truly be like none before it. The possibility of the season not being completed still exists. As Summer Camp continues teams continue to prepare for this season. Gerrit Cole looks at this season in a way that can motivate the Yankees.
“It’s going to be a different season, but there is only gonna be one coronavirus World Series champion,” Cole said.
It will be a tough schedule for the Yankees but if they can stay healthy, they can make a run at their 28th World Series championship.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
