Nobody knows what the Philadelphia Phillies roster will look like come next season. Their core of players may be shaken up for the first time in years, with key contributors Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Ranger Suárez all hitting free agency after 2025.
What we do know, for now, is who they will play and when, with Major League Baseball releasing every team's schedule for the 2026 regular season. Let's dive into three key series from the Phillies' 2026 schedule that fans should look forward to upon first glance.
The biggest news of the afternoon...
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 26, 2025
Our 2026 schedule is here! 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/wUigUZknE2
3 series Phillies fans should circle on their calendar in 2026
March 26-29 vs. Texas Rangers
Whenever a new MLB schedule is released, the first date that every baseball fan circles on their calendar is Opening Day. It's a day that every fan will tell you should be a national holiday after five hard months without meaningful baseball. Weirdly enough, the Phillies' season-opening series against the Texas Rangers is the third time the two teams have played each other on Opening Day since 2014, with the most recent series being in 2023, when the Phillies got outscored 29-11 in embarrassing fashion.
Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park will take place on Thursday, March 26, and both teams will have an off-day on Friday (which never makes any sense). The Rangers are the Phillies' only interleague matchup for the month of April and although they're experiencing a disappointing season this year, Texas is still loaded with star talent and will be only three years removed from a World Series championship.
July 20-22 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Two National League heavyweights will face off in this mid-summer series that's in the middle of the Phillies' first homestand in over two weeks as part of a busy July in South Philadelphia. It's always a blast to see the Phillies match their starpower up to that of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts always seem to torment the Phillies, and Shohei Ohtani is always a massive draw.
That's All-Star Matt Strahm to you pic.twitter.com/nRQal2jAq9
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 11, 2024
The Phillies and Dodgers have managed to avoid each other in the last couple of postseasons. They haven't faced off in the playoffs since the 2009 NLCS, which of course was the second straight year the Phillies bested the Dodgers to advance to the World Series. Perhaps this will be a rematch of a 2025 playoff series between the two contenders, adding another layer of interest to the three-game series.
Sept. 17-20 at New York Mets
This series will almost certainly mean something for the division hopes of two heated rivals. The Phillies' second and final trip to the New York Mets' Citi Field comes in the form of a four-game set in an NL East-heavy September. This weekend series should have a handful of national TV games, as all eyes will be on these two likely division contenders in the second-to-last week of the regular season.
Of course, the Phillies inexplicably cannot buy a win at the stadium that has become their biggest house of horrors, having just been swept for 10 straight losses in Queens, including 24 out of 30 overall. The Phillies and their fans certainly hope to break that horrendous streak in 2026, with seven games at Citi Field, the first strangely coming in late June in a schedule full of odd quirks.