3 highlights from the Milwaukee Brewers' 2027 schedule release

The second half of the 2026 MLB season is only just beginning, and following it will be a tense negotiation between the league and the MLB Players Association in regard to the ratification of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, just moments ago, with the threat of a lengthy lockout looming, MLB optimistically released the 2027 schedule.

In regard to the Milwaukee Brewers, a few minor details immediately stick out. The Brewers will play on the West Coast in mid-August without an off day on either side of their two-city trip. Milwaukee will play all four division rivals in the first six weeks of the 2027 season, which wasn't the case this year. The Brew Crew will once again finish the first half of the season with a three-city road trip without an off day, before starting the second half with a three-series homestand, just as they did this year. And thankfully, for what seems like the first time ever, the Brewers won't have to face the Pittsburgh Pirates in the final series before the All-Star Break. While all of those minor details are important, let's take a look at three more significant takeaways from the Brewers' 2027 schedule release.

1. American League opponents to start and finish the 2027 season

Back in 2023, MLB switched to a "balanced schedule," one that limited the number of games each team played against their divisional opponents in favor of having every team in all of baseball play one another at least once during the season. The change in schedule was made to expose fanbases to all of the stars of the game, not just those in their favorite team's league, and by all reports the switch has been a huge success. After all, with 162 games, it was rather odd that some teams didn't play a single series against each other during the season.

Therefore, the Brewers playing an American League opponent in both their opening and closing series of the season likely wouldn't have happened just four years ago. However, next year, assuming no games are canceled due to the expected lockout, the Brewers will open their season with a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Angels beginning on March 25, and end the season with a three-game away series against the Texas Rangers, both of whom compete in the AL West.

Game times have not yet been released, but following the Brewers' Opening Day matchup with the Angels on Thursday, March 25, they will once again have that Friday, March 26, off before resuming the series on Saturday. The scheduling quirk is included as a built-in early-season "rainout day," which proves to be rather pointless for a team like the Brewers who play under a retractable roof. After not being at home for Opening Day for four-straight seasons from 2022-2025, the Brewers will play at American Family Field on Opening Day for the second consecutive season next year.

2. No Thursdays in June, but plenty of games in April and May

Hopefully, no Brewers fans already had plans to go to a game on a Thursday in June next year. The Brew Crew has every single Thursday during the month of June off in 2027. In fact, the Brewers won't play on a Thursday from May 27 to July 8 next year. It's an odd scheduling quirk to be sure, but it's one that the team will most certainly be okay with. Amid a brutal schedule at the end of June and beginning of July this year, the Brewers' pitching staff was stretched thin, and now two starters are dealing with fatigue during the All-Star Break. Next year, the Brewers will be able to ease their pitchers through the month of June before a three-city road trip to close out the first half.

While the Brewers' schedule in June looks rather kind to the team next year, their April and May is far busier. The Brewers, who had five off days in April and four in May this year, will have just four in April and only two in May next year. It's essentially the opposite of what the Brewers have this year, as the 2026 team has just two off days in August and three in September, but had plenty in the early months of the season.

It seems to favor contenders like the Brewers to have more off days during the second half of the season, as it allows those teams to rest their pitching staff and make sure they are fully healthy for the postseason. The downside, however, of the Brewers' 2027 schedule, is that the team has to come out of the gates hot while avoiding the early-season injuries that have plagued them during the last two seasons.

3. A long break from the Cubs and no weekend series

One of the first things Brewers fans look for when the schedule is released each year is when their arch-rival Cubs are coming to town. Since the balanced schedule was implemented, division rivals visit each other twice every year. In 2027, the Brewers and Cubs will first matchup at Wrigley Field from April 26-28, before playing a four-game series at American Family Field from May 17-20.

After their May series in Milwaukee, the Brewers and Cubs won't meet again until August 30, three and a half months later, when the two NL Central rivals begin a three-game series at Wrigley Field. Then, five days after they complete that series in Chicago, they will matchup for the final time during the season in a three-game series at American Family Field from September 6-8.

Interestingly enough, none of the Brewers and Cubs' four series of the 2027 season will fall on a weekend -- all four begin on Monday. It's rather disappointing for fans who enjoy the rowdy weekend Brewers-Cubs series at American Family Field, but you can bet the series between Milwaukee and Chicago, especially the one in early September, will be electric regardless of what day of the week it is.

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