Thoughts & Observations Regarding the 2021 Schedule
Taking a deeper look at the OKC Dodgers’ return to baseball in the newly formed Triple-A West
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published Feb. 24. On March 2, Major League Baseball decided to delay the beginning of the Triple-A season by four weeks and truncated the schedule from 142 to 120 games. Click here to read more details.
Last week Major League Baseball announced all schedules for the 120 full-season Minor League teams as they return to play for the 2021 season. For the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the team will play 142 games against nine different opponents in the new Triple-A West with the season beginning Thursday, April 8.
In order to reduce travel and benefit player wellness, teams will meet for six games each series and no team will play on Wednesdays throughout the entire season. Thus every time the Dodgers play at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, they will play the same team Thursday through the following Tuesday.
There’s a lot to digest with the new schedule and league, so let’s take a deeper look into it.
Opponent Breakdown
Round Rock (Texas Rangers) — 36 games (18 home/18 road)
Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies) — 24 games (12 home/12 road)
Sugar Land Skeeters (Houston Astros) — 24 games (12 home/12 road)
El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres) — 22 games (6 home/16 road)
Salt Lake Bees (Los Angeles Angels) — 12 games (6 home/6 road)
Las Vegas Aviators (Oakland A’s)/Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks)/Sacramento River Cats (San Francisco Giants) — 6 games (home only)
Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners) — 6 games (road only)
Hello…Again
As you can see, there was an added emphasis on divisional games this season as a measure to reduce travel since we still live in a COVID-19 world. Of the Dodgers’ 142 total games, 106 are against their four divisional opponents.
Over the last several years when OKC was in the Pacific Coast League, the most the team would play an opponent was 16 games throughout the duration of the entire season, and only occasionally was a series as long as five games. Typically the Dodgers played each of their seven conference opponents in four separate four-game series, and then one series of either three or four games each against the eight teams from the other conference.
This year the Dodgers will play four teams more than 16 times, with Round Rock topping the list at 36 games (six series). Even with the high number of games against the Express, I’d like to think things won’t be too repetitive since there’s only one instance in which the teams play each other twice in the span of a month. Rosters change so frequently at Triple-A there should be be a fair amount of differences in each team from series to series.
Most series against high frequency opponents are spread out, except for Sugar Land. The Dodgers and Skeeters will play their entire 24-game season series between June 3 and Aug. 24. That works out to be 24 of 72 contests during that span, accounting for an even 1/3 of those total games.
The six-game series certainly adds another element. In theory, each team will go through its entire starting rotation and likely multiple appearances by each reliever through the first five games. There won’t be many surprises come time for the series finale.
Gonna Need More Than a Carry-On
There are three instances the Dodgers will have a 12-game road trip across 13 days (and up to 15 days if you include the travel days on the front and back). Fortunately, two of the long trips are between teams that are in close proximity to each other (Albuquerque-El Paso and Round Rock-Sugar Land) so there won’t be extensive travel during the halfway point of the roadie.
On the flipside, the Dodgers will have three mega homestands of 12 games spanning 13 days June 3–15, July 15–27 and Aug. 26-Sept. 7.
(And with regards to the second of the long homestands, it starts after the mid-season break, meaning the team will be home for 16 straight days. That’s almost unthinkable given how typical baseball schedules work.)
Au Revoir
What might be most notable to some people is who is not on the schedule. Gone are longtime opponents Iowa, Memphis, Nashville and Omaha, who have each joined Triple-A East. Unfortunately for fans of the Chicago Cubs (Iowa) and St. Louis Cardinals (Memphis) — and there are a lot of both in OKC — they won’t be able to see the Triple-A version of their favorite team in person at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
(There’s potential for some crossover in the future, but nothing has been decided beyond 2021.)
Keeping it Simple
There will be no all-star game or playoffs due to the extended length of the schedule. These are things that could return in the future, but are definitely out for 2021.
The loss of both are unfortunate but certainly understandable. As one coach told me, with no playoffs “it will feel a like a year-long instructional league.” I don’t fully agree with that, but it does eliminate some drama besides just the actual playoffs, like division title chases, scoreboard watching, etc.
Home for the Holidays
The Dodgers are fortunate to get the benefit of having homestands encompassing Independence Day and Labor Day, so there will be plenty of chances for fans to attend games over holiday breaks. In fact, the Dodgers will play July 1–6 against Salt Lake, so I imagine there will be fireworks galore!
Wearing White After Labor Day (Especially at Home)
Speaking of Labor Day, that is when the Minor League regular traditionally concludes. However, in order to accommodate the increase in off days, the season will extend well past Labor Day and through Sept. 21. For fans in OKC, this means an additional seven home dates they can cheer on the Dodgers they normally would not be able to.
One and Done
In what I consider one of the bigger schedule quirks of 2021, the Dodgers open the season in Tacoma April 8–13 and do not play the Rainiers again after that. Naturally.
There are a lot of changes already in place for this year and there are likely more coming with the restructuring of Minor League Baseball as well as health and safety protocols that will be instituted. As of this writing, there are still many things yet to be determined, including how teams will travel and go through their daily routines safely.
It can be hard to keep up in this ever-evolving situation, so if you ever have any questions regarding gameplay, opponents, the schedule, etc., feel free to shoot me a message on Twitter (@azfreedman) and I’ll try my best to answer. For other general questions, you can always call the OKC Dodgers at (405) 218–1000 or send an email to info@okcdodgers.com.
