Red Sox 2023 schedule release date

Mookie Betts will be back in Boston next season for the first time as a visitor.

That was the biggest highlight for the Red Sox on Wednesday when Major League Baseball announced the schedule for the 2023 season, which will see the Dodgers visit Fenway Park from Aug. 25-27. Assuming he’s healthy, it will mark the first time Betts returns as a Red Sox opponent since the franchise dealt him to the Dodgers before the 2020 season.

Betts, a fifth-round draft pick by the Red Sox in 2011, spent his first six major league seasons in Boston – including the 2018 championship season, when he was named American League MVP – before the trade. The 2023 season will mark the right fielder’s fourth with Los Angeles, where he signed a 12-year, $365 million contract extension and won a World Series in 2020.

For the first time in MLB history, every team will play at least one series against every team as the league debuts a new, balanced schedule. Every team will now play 52 total games against divisional opponents [down from 76], 64 intraleague games [down from 66] and 46 interleague games [up from 20].

“It’s great for the fanbases,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “If you’re a baseball fan, it’s cool. The fact that we’re going to San Fran. We’re going back to Wrigley. We’re going back to Arizona. … You’re playing everybody, it’s great. I think for the fanbase, for the regular baseball fan, it should be fun.”

Cora said the first thing he looked for when the new schedule dropped is when they play the Mets, where his brother Joey is the third-base coach. The Mets visit Fenway for a three-game series from July 21-23.

Here are some other highlights of the Red Sox’ 2023 schedule:

– The Red Sox will open the 2023 season at home on March 30 against the Orioles as they start the year with a six-game homestand, with three games against the O’s followed by three with the Pirates.

– The Red Sox will face the Angels on Patriots’ Day as they play a four-game series from April 14-17.

– The first Red Sox-Yankees series will come on June 9-11 for a three-game set at Yankee Stadium. The rivals will then square off at Fenway Park for three games June 16-18, then three at Yankee Stadium from Aug. 16-18 and then four at Fenway from Sept. 11-14 to close out the 13 games.

– For a second consecutive season, the Red Sox will visit Wrigley Field for a three-game series with the Cubs from July 14-16. In total, the Red Sox will visit eight National League parks, including Milwaukee [April 21-13], Philadelphia [May 5-7], Atlanta [May 9-10], San Diego [May 19-21], Arizona [May 26-28], San Francisco [July 28-30] and Washington [Aug. 15-17].

– The Red Sox will finish the season with four games at Camden Yards against the Orioles, with the regular season finale coming on Oct. 1.