Padres 2025 Schedule: Frightening gauntlet awaits Friars prior to All-Star Game

Major League Baseball has the worst timing. Rather than making a formal announcement, MLB picked a random Thursday afternoon during the All-Star break for a schedule drop. With The Open Championship being on the only major sporting event going on at the moment, perhaps the powers that be at MLB headquarters decided better now than later.

Whatever the reason may be, the Friar faithful now know all 162 games in which their beloved San Diego Padres will be competing next season. While most Pads fans have their attention focused on how the team can win this season, the 2025 Padres schedule offers some intriguing matchups.

Padres 2025 Schedule: San Diego hosts Braves on Opening Day

This past season, the Padres opened the year overseas in South Korea. A two-game international set with the Los Angeles Dodgers was the first MLB series of the season. And while the Dodgers will begin next season in Japan against the Chicago Cubs, the Friars' first game will be at Petco Park against the Atlanta Braves.

This will be the second time in four years the Braves have begun the year in San Diego. The Padres blew the Braves out of the water by a score of 12-1 on Opening Day in 2022. That was also the last time the Friars made a trip to the NLCS, so perhaps some good fortune will come from Atlanta's visit.

Padres 2025 Schedule: Frightening gauntlet awaits prior to All-Star Game

The schedule makers did not do the Padres any favors ahead of the 2025 All-Star break. Next year's Midsummer Classic is in Atlanta, but before the Padres' All-Stars pack their bags for the Peach State, San Diego must endure an arduous stretch of 17 games in 18 days.

The Padres take a three-game visit to Cincinnati to play the upstart Reds before three games on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies. San Diego then returns home to face the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers, the 2023 National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks, and then a rematch with the Phillies.

If the Padres are still breathing after that two-and-a-half week stretch before the All-Star Game, perhaps they will have enough left in the tank for a postseason push in August and September next season.

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