MiLB Opening Day 2024: Minor League Schedules, Start Times & More

Image credit: South Bend Cubs (Photo by Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)

MiLB Opening Day is fast approaching. We’re eager for another season to get going and extensively previewed the top prospects you need to know entering the 2024 season. We’ll also provide daily in-season updates with news, analysis and stats via our Prospect Wire, presented by Louisville Slugger.

Below, we’ll break down when the season starts, what you need to know and more.

When is MiLB Opening Day?

It depends on what level you’re asking about. Much like the major leagues having a series in Korea before the official “Opening Day”, the minors will have a pair of MiLB Opening Days. The Triple-A season is now scheduled to follow closely the major league schedule, while the rest of the minors will begin a week later.

Triple-A Opening Day

The Triple-A seasons in the International and Pacific Coast Leagues will both begin on Friday, March 29. The Buffalo Bisons will host the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and the Syracuse Mets will host the Rochester Red Wings at 2:05 p.m ET. So one of those two games should have the first official pitch of the MiLB season.

Why is Triple-A slated to start a week before the rest of the minors? Since the pandemic, MLB has tried to have Triple-A’s schedule largely mimic the majors, which ensures that teams will have a ready supply of potential call-ups in case of injuries. Similarly, the Triple-A season will run later than the rest of the minors. Class A leagues’ last regular season games will be played on Sept. 8 . Double-A finishes a week later on Sept. 15. Triple-A will play until Sept. 22. The MLB season will wrap up a week later on Sept. 29.

Double-A, High-A and Low-A Opening Day

Opening Day for the other three full-season levels (Double-A, High-A and Low-A) are set for Friday, April 5. The Portland Sea Dogs are set to host the Hartford Yard Goats at 6 p.m. ET, which edges three games scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET starts to be the first game on Opening Day.

Complex Leagues Opening Day

The Arizona and Florida Complex Leagues schedules have completely changed for 2024. The ACL and FCL regular seasons will begin on May 4 and end on July 25. Traditionally, those leagues have played from June until August, but at the request of MLB farm directors, those seasons have been moved up to earlier in the calendar. That will make it easier for teams to cover innings with the new tighter roster limits, while also ensuring better weather, especially in Arizona, where the average high in August is 104 degrees, compared to 95 in May.

The Dominican Summer League’s official start date for 2024 has not been announced yet, but it is expected to remain on the same timetable as 2023. In 2023, Opening Day was on June 5.