Back in 2022, Major League Baseball announced plans to host regular season games in London in 2023, 2024, and 2026. We knew the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals would partake in this year's series (June 24 and 25), but now we know that next year's expedition to England will feature the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies, according to a report from Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. The Athletic confirms Verducci's reporting and adds that the two games will take place on June 8-9, 2024, at London Stadium.
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox played the first MLB series in London back in 2019. The Yankees won both contests in slugfest fashion at London Stadium. The Yankees and Red Sox are reportedly among the teams to have shown interest in partaking in MLB's planned Paris series come 2025.
"That's cool. It sounds pretty exciting," Yankees ace Gerrit Cole told the Associated Press last June. "That's going to be a really special opportunity."
Verducci's report adds that the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies are scheduled to play in Mexico next season. The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants recently played a two-game set at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú on April 29 and 30. MLB's attempts to spread their brand internationally tentatively includes games played in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, Our Mike Axisa provided a look at the league's preliminary international schedule a few days back. Here's that information presented in a handy-dandy table form:
Spring training
Puerto Rico/Dominican Republic
World Baseball Classic
Opening weekend
Asia
Tokyo
May
Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City
June
London
Paris
London
September
San Juan
San Juan
Earlier this week, ESPN reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres were likely to open next season with a series in Seoul, South Korea. MLB has yet to confirm the news. Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim is, of course, from South Korea, and began his professional career as a member of Korea Baseball Organization.
