Major League Baseball Unveils 2023 Schedule: Kansas City Royals' Key Games

Opening Day is finally here, with hope in the air for nearly every MLB team. The Kansas City Royals finished fifth in the AL Central last season, one game behind the Detroit Tigers, but with budding superstars like Bobby Witt Jr. on the team, the season will be a success if they continue to creep up in the standings, gaining experience and preparing for a playoff push in the next couple seasons.

When looking at the biggest series awaiting the Royals this season, it’s important to note that the MLB owners voted to approve changes to the scheduling format this offseason. For the first time in league history, all thirty MLB teams will play each of their 29 opponents in at least one series, making it so that fans of the home team will have an opportunity to see each team in the league play at least once in a two year span.

The Royals will still get to play in the I-70 Series against the cross-state rival St. Louis Cardinals, and they’ll have the opportunity to face all other 14 teams in the National League as well. In order to fit in the schedule changes, MLB had to back down on the number of games against division opponents each season. In previous years (since the advent of interleague play and expansion to the current 30 teams), the Royals had played each of their four AL Central rivals 19 teams each season for a total of 76 division games, nearly half the schedule. That number drops to 52 this season, so the division games will matter more than ever in 2023: if they get out to a cold start, it’ll be that much harder to move up in the division.

Right now the Royals have the worst odds of winning the AL Central in 2023, listed at +3500 per Kansas’ FanDuel Sportsbook: if you want to bet on the Royals this season, be sure to make use of a FanDuel Kansas promo code to maximize your chances (and minimize your risk) on the way to winning big.

Let’s take a look at a few series that could make or break Kansas City’s season.

First, the aforementioned I-70 Series. The Royals will head to St. Louis on May 29, closing the month with a two-game series against the Birds on the Bat: they’ll host the Cardinals on August 11-12. Every win matters, and they feel a little sweeter when it’s against a natural rival: who doesn’t love bragging rights?

The June 16-18 series with the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium will be another can’t-miss draw. The Angels have the best player in the world right now, superstar designated hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani. He’s doing things with his bat and on the mound that haven’t been seen since the days of Babe Ruth, if ever, so if Ohtani is in town, it’s an occasion you won’t want to miss.

Up next is the Royals’ seven-game homestand out of the All-Star Break. They’ll host the Tampa Bay Rays (who are always in the thick of a pennant race despite never being big spenders, a good blueprint for what the Royals could do moving forward) for three games, then they’ll play four games against the Tigers, a softer draw that could spark a second-half push.

Following that homestand, the Royals will hit the road for a week, playing three games apiece against the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians. Both teams are widely projected to win their respective divisions this season (Cleveland in the AL Central along with the Royals), so it’ll be a good litmus test for a young team as the dog days of summer start to set in.