Philadelphia Phillies: Dumb features of the 2020 schedule

California chaos

Things get weird immediately after the Wrigley trip, as the Phillies (without a day off in between) jet out to the Bay Area to face Gabe Kapler and the San Francisco Giants. But once they’re there, they stick around to play another one of the California teams, right?

Nope.

The Phillies do at least get a travel day off once they are done in San Fran, but they come back home for six games. Then, less than three weeks later, they fly back to the West Coast to play at their least favorite place, Dodger Stadium. Surely, they take the quick trip to San Diego to play the Padres right after that so they are done in California for the year, right?

I think you know the answer.

The Phils will, instead, hit up Colorado after L.A. Two months later, at the end of July, they visit the Arizona Diamondbacks and then the Padres to finally complete the California portion of their schedule.

Look, the Phillies shouldn’t be chomping at the bit for a three-city tour of the Golden State given how they have gotten their heads kicked in and literally seen seasons go down the tubes there in the last couple years. But it’s best to rip the Band Aid off at once instead of the death by a thousand tiny stab wounds that the three trips will feel like.

Maybe breaking things up will help the Phillies. It sure couldn’t be any worse. But from a wear-and-tear perspective, it makes no sense to me.

In a final note to this chapter, the Phillies have to make a rare trip to Seattle to face the Mariners this season. Did MLB pair that series up with any of the California visits? Of course they didn’t. It’ll be yet another cross-country trip.