Honestly, if you thought the 2025 MLB season start was just another late-March Thursday, you weren't looking close enough. Baseball has gone global, and I’m not just talking about streaming rights. For the hardcore fans, the "real" beginning happened while most of the U.S. was still sleeping off a Tuesday night.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs essentially jumped the gun, flying halfway across the world to the Tokyo Dome.
March 18. That was the date.
While the rest of the league was still playing meaningless Cactus League games in Arizona, Shohei Ohtani was busy receiving a hero's welcome in his home country. It was the sixth time MLB has opened a season in Tokyo, and let’s be real—seeing the Dodgers’ $700 million man back in Japan felt less like a game and more like a coronation. The Dodgers took both games, essentially starting their title defense with a two-game cushion before most teams even packed their bags for the flight north.
Why the 2025 MLB season start felt different
The "official" Opening Day back in North America landed on March 27, 2025. This was technically the earliest Opening Day in the history of the sport, if you ignore those special international series.
Usually, we get a full slate of 15 games on that first Thursday. Not this time.
Nature had other plans. Hurricane Milton had absolutely ripped through Tropicana Field's roof months prior, leaving the Tampa Bay Rays homeless for the season. Because they had to move their operations to George M. Steinbrenner Field—the Yankees’ spring training home—things got a bit messy.
The Rays and the Colorado Rockies actually had to wait until Friday, March 28, to get their season going. The delay was basically a "logistics buffer" to make sure the temporary stadium was actually ready for major league lights.
Think about that. A team playing their home opener in a minor league-sized stadium with 11,000 seats. It’s weird. It’s sort of tragic for the St. Petersburg fans, but for the rest of us, it was a reminder that the 2025 schedule was built on shifting sand.
The Rivalry Weekend experiment
One thing you might’ve missed in the chaos of the 2025 MLB season start was the quiet death of the "two-game" interleague series.
MLB finally got smart.
They realized that fans hate those awkward two-game sets between "prime" rivals. You know the ones—Mets vs. Yankees or Cubs vs. White Sox where it’s over before it even feels like a series. For 2025, the league bumped these "prime" matchups from four games total to six. That meant two full three-game series.
They even branded May 16–18 as "Rivalry Weekend." It featured 11 series of these natural enemies.
Honestly, it’s about time.
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If you're going to force interleague play down our throats every single year, at least give us the three-day drama of a rubber match. The Yankees visiting the Mets or the Dodgers hosting the Angels just hits different when there’s a full weekend of trash talk involved.
Rules, rebrands, and the Sacramento "A’s"
We didn't see massive, game-altering rule changes like the pitch clock this year, but the 2025 MLB season start did bring some technical "nerd" tweaks.
The most annoying one for managers? Replay review can now call you out for "abandonment" if you overrun second or third base on a force play.
Basically, if you think you’re going to be out and you just keep running toward the dugout before the play is officially dead, the replay booth can nail you. It’s a niche rule, but in a one-run game in July, someone is going to lose their mind over it.
And we have to talk about the Athletics.
Or just "The Athletics."
No Oakland. No Las Vegas (yet). Just the Athletics playing in a Triple-A park in West Sacramento. Seeing them start their season at Sutter Health Park was a jarring visual. It’s a 162-game season played in a venue that feels like a summer camp.
Key dates for your 2025 calendar
If you're tracking the rest of the year, here is how the flow actually looks:
- March 18–19: Tokyo Series (The "Sneak Peak" Start)
- March 27: Domestic Opening Day (The "Mass" Start)
- May 16–18: Rivalry Weekend
- July 15: The 95th All-Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta
- August 2: The MLB Speedway Classic (Braves vs. Reds at Bristol Motor Speedway)
- September 28: Regular season finale
The "Speedway Classic" is the one I'm circling. MLB is trying to recreate the "Field of Dreams" magic by putting a diamond inside a NASCAR track. It’s either going to be the coolest thing we’ve ever seen or a total disaster for depth perception.
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Either way, it beats another game in a silent stadium.
Actionable next steps for fans
If you’re trying to keep up with the 2025 chaos, don't just rely on the old schedule in your head. The move to Steinbrenner Field for the Rays changed several series dates, specifically for the Angels and Twins.
- Check the Rays’ "Home" Schedule: If you had tickets for Tampa, they are gone. The new dates at Steinbrenner Field are outdoor, meaning rain delays are back in play for a team that hasn't dealt with them in decades.
- Watch the Rivalry Series: Mark your calendars for May 16. That’s the first time we see the new 6-game format for prime interleague rivals.
- Draft Strategy: For the fantasy players, keep an eye on how the Sacramento humidity affects the ball. Sutter Health Park is a hitter's paradise in the minors; we’ll see if that translates to the big leagues.
The 2025 season is a bridge year. We’re waiting for the automated ball-strike system (ABS) in 2026, and we're waiting for the A’s to find a permanent home. But for now, we have Ohtani in Tokyo and baseball in a NASCAR stadium. It's weird, but it's ours.