Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here.

Major League Baseball released the 2026 season schedule today, and there are countless tantalizing matchups to look forward to between Opening Night on March 25 and each team’s season finale on Sept. 27.

The Yankees and Giants will get things going with a primetime affair on March 25, before the earliest traditional Opening Day in MLB history gets underway the next day with 14 games.

The 96th All-Star Game presented by Mastercard will be held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on July 14 in celebration of 250 years of American independence. Fifty years earlier, Philly hosted the ’76 All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium as part of the country’s bicentennial celebration.

Other schedule highlights include:

• Rivalry Weekend from May 15-17 will see 11 prime Interleague rivals squaring off for three-game series, as well as four regional matchups

• While the A’s will continue to play most of their home schedule in West Sacramento, they’ll also get a sneak peak of their future home city with back-to-back June series at Las Vegas Ballpark.

• The Yankees and Mets will meet on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to begin a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. The two New York teams met at Citi Field five years earlier in commemoration of the 20th anniversary in their only other previous matchup on 9/11.

• Every team will wrap up their season on Sunday, Sept. 27, with 18 teams taking on division rivals that day.

-- Ed Eagle

• Phillies @ Mets (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV, TBS): It's been a roller-coaster season for Jesús Luzardo, who looked like a surprise Cy Young contender early (2.15 ERA through 11 starts), then stumbled through a rough regression (8.04 ERA over his next 10) before righting the ship recently (2.32 ERA since July 29). The Phils could use the southpaw at his best to quiet a Mets offense that erupted for 13 runs last night.

• D-backs @ Brewers (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Jacob Misiorowski has come back to Earth a bit since taking the league by storm in June, just as his team has cooled off -- perhaps inevitably -- following its incredible 29-4 run from July 6-Aug. 17. But the Miz is back where nobody beats him, on his home turf, where he's 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA, compared to 1-2 with a 7.23 ERA on the road.

• Padres @ Mariners (9:40 p.m. ET, FREE on MLB.TV): Aside from Big Dumper's home run tear (more on that below), this is a massive game for two teams in the thick of the postseason chase, with San Diego searching for its first win against Seattle this season in five tries. The M's seem to have the edge in a matchup of name-brand starting pitchers, with Luis Castillo (3.57 ERA) battling Dylan Cease (4.71 ERA).

Some of the most important offseason moves could happen well before the Hot Stove gets cooking. Five days after the conclusion of the World Series marks the deadline for option decisions, including club options, player options/opt-outs and mutual options. 

While many of these calls will be no-brainers, there are some that are still up in the air and could have an outsized impact on the free-agent market, such as:

Alex Bregman: He could be one of the biggest free agents next year ... if he becomes a free agent. To hit the open market for the second straight offseason, Bregman would have to opt out of the final two years -- worth a combined $80 million, $40 million of which is deferred -- on his three-year deal with the Red Sox. 

Shane Bieber: His decision on his $16 million player option ($4 million buyout) will likely hinge on how his return from Tommy John surgery goes. So far, so good -- Bieber struck out nine over six innings of one-run ball in his first start back.

Shota Imanaga: This one is complex: The Cubs hold a three-year, $57 million club option on the left-hander covering the 2026-28 seasons that they’ll need to decide on this offseason. If they turn it down, Imanaga will be able to stay with the Cubs by exercising a $15 million player option for 2026, though doing so would trigger a similar club/player option scenario that would need to be settled next offseason. Got all that?

For Mark Feinsand's full analysis of key impending option and opt-out decisions, click here.

-- Thomas Harrigan

Big Dumper? More like Big Thumper. Seattle's Cal Raleigh reached another home run milestone on Monday night, when he clubbed his 50th dinger -- becoming the first primary catcher in history to hit that many in a season and marking the 51st time the figure has been reached all time. But there's even more history to consider.

• Quiz: Did they hit 50 homers in a season?

Raleigh needs just four more homers to tie Mickey Mantle's single-season record for a switch-hitter, set in 1961, and needs six more to tie Ken Griffey Jr.'s Seattle franchise record, reached in 1997 and '98. But wait, there's more.

He's also the first switch-hitter to homer at least 20 times from both sides of the plate in the same season, and he's only the second Mariner to reach 50 after Griffey. But wait, there's STILL more.

Raleigh is on pace for 61 dingers, which would be one shy of Aaron Judge's AL record, set in 2022. That would make him just the second player to reach 60 since 2001. 

This is an impressive list of feats. And it's still just August! So, it's fitting that Raleigh is the new favorite in the race for AL MVP.

-- Jason Foster

Brad Marcelino has British baseball in his blood. The latest chapter in that story? Leading “a bunch of freaking tough dogs.”

His dad, Oscar Marcelino, played for Great Britain’s national team for many years and entered the British Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. Oscar’s former teammate is Rob Nelson, the former Cornell University left-hander who co-founded the iconic baseball bubblegum Big League Chew … and is Brad’s godfather! Blimey! With those influences, it’s no wonder Brad Marcelino embarked on a life in baseball.

Though he also went on to play a starring role for Great Britain’s national team -- and enter the British Baseball Hall of Fame -- just like his dad, Marcelino is now carving out a new identity as the manager for Great Britain’s national team. When GB competes in the European Championships this fall and the World Baseball Classic next spring, Marcelino will be steering the ship from the dugout.

Great Britain has slowly ascended in baseball prominence over the past couple of decades, but Marcelino wants to maintain its scrappy, upstart mentality. (After all, this is the same group that used to tape their numbers onto their uniforms and had the “T” fall off their jerseys in the last WBC.) 

"It's good being the underdog, right? It's good being overlooked a little bit," he said.

If this all sounds like your cup of tea, click here for more on Marcelino’s baseball background, which blokes might suit up for Great Britain in the next WBC and the “fearless” identity he wants to craft for his squad.

-- Elizabeth Muratore

On this day 23 years ago, the first MLB.TV game was beamed to laptops and computers all around the world, with the Yankees beating the Rangers in the inaugural stream.

That seminal moment has translated to billions of views, new technology and a legion of fans ready to tune in each night from the comfort of ... wherever they are!

To commemorate the 23rd anniversary, an MLB.TV Yearly Package (which includes MLB Network 24/7 for U.S. viewers) is on sale for $23 from now until Tuesday, Sept. 2.

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