MLB’s latest proposal to the MLB Players Association included three game-changing clauses alongside the contract and labor minutiae. Two affect only postseason play; one would make the Division Series a best-of-seven contest, and the other would let higher-seeded teams choose their opponents in the Wild Card and Divisional Rounds.
The most consequential proposal would shift the MLB regular season to a 154-game schedule. That means the Philadelphia Phillies would have a scheduled off-day on Mondays, except on select national broadcast dates and holidays, after which they would have Thursdays off that week. To accommodate this, every team would play one scheduled double-header against each divisional opponent every year.
This format would not go into effect until 2029, when MLB’s next national media agreement begins.
Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) has played under a similar format, eschewing Monday games, albeit on a 143-game schedule. It has completely changed how Japanese teams deploy their starting rotation. Across the Pacific, teams deploy a six-man starting staff. Each pitcher takes the mound once a week, often on the same day each time. For some Japanese players coming to MLB, the shift from that format to the American five days of rest between starts is a cultural shock.
The extra rest between starts and the shorter schedule allow pitchers to go deeper into games. Pitchers in Japan throw more pitches per game and more complete games than their American counterparts. NPB had 67 complete games in 2026, compared with only 21 in MLB.
The Phillies rotation in the long view
By 2029, the Phillies rotation will be only marginally different. Andrew Painter will still be under team control at age 26, while Cris Sanchez, Jesús Luzardo, and Aaron Nola—though who knows how effective he’ll be—are under contract through 2032, 2032, and 2030, respectively.
Asking pitchers to change their routines is a notoriously dangerous conversation. Zack Wheeler, for example, hates pitching on more than four days' rest. Whenever the Phillies expand to six-man staffs for brief periods, they’ll often keep their ace on a regular schedule.
If the 154-game schedule is implemented, the remaining Phillies starters could very well oppose reshaping their normal schedule. Without precedent and advanced analytics on weekly rotations, teams across the league would deploy their starters differently in a new baseball frontier, at least outside the NCAA.
The Phillies, with one of the more future-proof rotations and Gage Wood waiting in the wings, will see 2029 much more clearly than nearly all of their competition. They would need only to sign one more starting pitcher to build a six-man rotation based on projections for Wood, Painter, Nola, Sanchez, and Luzardo.
Of course, plans are a fickle thing. 2029 is an epoch away in baseball terms. The lockout could change far more than scheduling, and the Phillies may need to cut payroll drastically. Perhaps the 154-game schedule falls by the wayside in negotiations.
Just think of how it would solidify every single-season record total.
Bye-bye home run chase!
No hitter would ever again have a chance to break Ichiro Suzuki’s single-season hit total, or Hack Wilson’s RBI total, not to mention how unreachable Barry Bonds’ home run record would become.
MLB implemented a 154-game schedule from 1904-60. In the 66 years since, teams have adapted and molded the game around the 162-game slate. Baseball would again adapt, as it always has, to changing times. But perhaps more so than the pitch clock, ABS, or defensive shift bans, this new schedule would impact the game far more in ways unseen tby the average fan.
Add us as a preferred source on Google