Red Sox: Way too early 2021 schedule highlights, key dates, takeaways

The way too early Red Sox 2021 schedule highlights.

We’re still weeks away from Opening Day for the 2020 season and we already know what next year’s Boston Red Sox schedule looks like.

Major League Baseball released the schedules for the 2021 season on Thursday in a premature move aimed at giving fans some semblance of normalcy to look forward to. This year’s 60-game sprint is a disaster so they are waving a shiny new toy in front of us so that we’ll forget about the broken one.

Except we can’t be sure that next year will be any better. Unless a vaccine for COVID-19 is available by next spring, MLB will be presented with many of the same challenges they face today. If another wave of the virus forces state governments to take a step back by reintroducing stricter social distancing protocols, fans will still be prohibited from attending games for at least part of next year.

In that scenario, you can bet on owners protesting against a full 162-game schedule. We’ll be stuck in the middle of another miserable labor dispute.

Let’s see if MLB manages to complete this season’s 60-game schedule plus the postseason. We’ll feel more confident in a full season next year if a World Series champion is crowned in 2020.