The Tampa Bay Rays are going to have to unexpectedly play their home games outdoors this season in the middle of Florida’s thunderstorm season, but Major League Baseball says it is now swapping some games around to limit the potential disruptions to their schedule.

The 2025 Rays will not be the first MLB team to play regular season games outdoors in Florida. Nor will they be the first to have such games at a spring training venue.

Tampa Bay is scheduled to play 13 of its first 16 games at home and 47 of 59 through May 28, then play 69 of its last 103 games on the road. The Rays are home for eight of 25 games in July and eight of 26 in August.

The Major League Baseball schedule makers have altered the schedule for the Rays in 2025 to accommodate their temporary ballpark solution, and the result is a complete unbalanced schedule that puts the Rays at a disadvantage in more ways than one.

There’s an ongoing saga, as you know, regarding where the Tampa Bay Rays will be playing going forward. There was a deal nearly all settled for a new Rays stadium to be built in St. Petersburgh and opening in 2028,