A Look at the 2026 MLB Schedule and New Rules

Major League Baseball (MLB) has made a few changes ahead of the 2026 season. Following recent league overhauls like the balanced schedule format and the pitch clock, more innovations are taking the mound in 2026 like the Automated Ball/Strike System.

Get ready for the start of Spring Training on February 20 — followed by Opening Night on March 25 and Opening Day on March 26 — by catching up on all of the updates MLB has made that are continuing into the 2026 season.

How Does the Balanced MLB Schedule Work?

To begin, there are 30 MLB teams between two leagues (American League and National League), and each league has 15 total teams. Each league has three divisions (East, Central and West) for a total of six MLB divisions, and each division has a total of five teams. The regular MLB season consists of each team playing a total of 162 games between the spring and the fall.

With the balanced MLB schedule, introduced in 2023, there are fewer games played between divisional opponents and more games between interleague teams. As of 2025, each team now plays their divisional opponents in only 52 games, decreased from 76 games in the pre-2023 schedule format. This means each team will play their divisional opponents in 13 games across four series with seven games at home and six games away (or vice versa) for a total of 26 divisional games at home and 26 away.

MLB intraleague play was also shortened to 62 games, down from the previous 66 games. These intraleague games are played between non-divisional league opponents and will consist of six games against eight intraleague teams and seven games against two intraleague teams.

The biggest change is regarding interleague games. Each team now plays 48 games, up from 20, against teams from the opposite league. Each team plays a home-and-home series totaling six games against their “natural rivals” (i.e. Cubs vs. White Sox, Mets vs. Yankees, Angels vs. Dodgers) and a single, three-game series against the other 14 interleague teams, with seven series at home and seven away.

The other natural rivalries in the league include: Astros vs. Rockies; Athletics vs. Giants; Blue Jays vs. Phillies; Guardians vs. Reds; Mariners vs. Padres; Orioles vs. Nationals; Rangers vs. Diamondbacks; Rays vs. Marlins; Red Sox vs. Braves; Royals vs. Cardinals; Tigers vs. Pirates, and Twins vs. Brewers.

The most important thing to note with the newer MLB schedule format is the variety of games for fans to attend; all 30 MLB teams now play each other in the regular season. This is a result of MLB’s decision to put less of an emphasis on divisional play. Previously, MLB teams played their divisional opponents in 19 games each, totaling 76 divisional games. MLB decided to expand the playing field for a more “balanced” schedule with the new format.

Another unique update is the emphasis on interleague play. Before the 2023 season, teams would play 20 interleague games against their natural rivals and only one other division in the opposing league. Since all teams in the entire league now play each other, it provides fans with more opportunities to see their favorite teams compete against different opponents. As Chris Marinak, MLB chief operations and strategy officer said, “This new format creates more consistent opponent matchups as clubs compete for postseason berths, particularly in the recently expanded wild card round.”

The balanced schedule change in 2023 was the first drastic change to MLB’s regular season schedule since the “unbalanced” schedule was implemented in 2001. With the previous schedule, teams would play between 16-20 games a season against their divisional opponents. In 2025, the MLB schedule moved two games from the non-division intraleague bucket to the interleague matchups’ total.

How Do the MLB Playoffs Work?

The MLB Postseason is separated by the two leagues, the National League and the American League, until the World Series. In each league, MLB Postseason spots are given to the winner of each division, as well as three wild card spots for the teams who didn’t win the division but have the best winning percentage. After a best-of-three Wild Card series, teams play in a best-of-five Divisional Round Series followed by a League Championship, which is a best-of-seven series. The winner of the American League and National League Championship series compete in a best-of-seven series known as the World Series.

Learn more about the MLB Postseason here.

What are the new rules for MLB in 2026?

Automated Ball/Strike Challenge System

Introduced for the 2026 MLB season, the Automated Ball/Strike (ABS) Challenge System creates a new process for teams to contest umpire calls during a game. With Hawk-Eye cameras recording each pitch, an umpire’s decision can now be appealed by a pitcher, catcher or batter for video review. Each team receives two challenges per game, with an additional challenge given for extra innings, and retains the challenge if it is successful. First tested by the minor leagues in 2019, ABS was brought to Triple-A in 2022. Major league players got their first taste of the ABS Challenge System during the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, where four of five challenges were successful.

New penalty for shift violation

Defensive players previously had been allowed to “shift” throughout the field for specific offensive players depending on where they were most likely to hit the ball. The shift led to the lowest league-wide batting average (.243) since 1968. But thanks to a recent rule introduced in 2023, there must be two infielders on either side of second base with two feet in the dirt when the pitcher releases the ball. When the rule was first implemented, if a defensive player broke this rule, the offensive team had the choice to decline the penalty and let the play stand or accept the penalty, which added a ball to the batter’s count. That penalty is more severe in 2025. If the rule is broken now, the batter will be awarded first base and runners on base will advance one base.

Over-running a base

This rule/replay change pertains to a scenario in which a player purposely over-runs a base. The most common instance of this in the past has been that with runners on the corners and two outs in an inning, the runner on first would purposely over-run second base in an attempt to be called safe so that the runner from third could potentially cross home plate before the defense would be able to get the force out at first base. Although a relatively rare play, starting in the 2025 season, replay officials were able to call runners who over-run bases on purpose as out for abandonment.