Willy Adames was showered with love when he returned to Milwaukee this past weekend for the first time since signing a seven-year, $182 million contract to leave the Brewers and join the Giants.
Rafael Devers, by contrast, will have a different reception awaiting him when he plays his first game at Fenway Park next August following an ugly fallout that ended with him being traded to San Francisco.
Devers’ return to Boston is one of the headliners of the Giants’ 2026 schedule, which Major League Baseball released on Tuesday morning. The whole schedule can be viewed on the Giants’ website.
Here are several highlights of next year’s schedule:
Opening Day vs. the Bronx Bombers
The Giants typically spend Opening Day on the road, but they’ll have an opportunity to play their first game of the 2026 season at home as they host the New York Yankees for a three-game series.
Opening Day will be on March 25. Following an off-day on March 26, the Giants and Yankees will finish out the series on March 27 and March 28. This will mark just the sixth time since 2000 that the Giants have played Opening Day at home.
If top prospect Bryce Eldridge doesn’t make his major-league debut this upcoming September, it’s very likely that his first game would be at Oracle Park against the Bronx Bombers.
Aaron Judge, who grew up a Giants fan, put on a show when the Yankees visited Oracle Park last season, hitting three homers in three games and driving in six games. Former Giant Carlos Rodón would also likely pitch during this series as well.
The Giants will also close the season in San Francisco when they close the season with a three-game set against the Dodgers on Sept. 25-27.
Devers returns to Boston
There was no shortage of drama that preceded the Red Sox’s decision to ship Devers to the Giants in mid-June in exchange for Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs III and Jose Bello. On August 21, Devers will make his return to Fenway Park.
The notoriously ruthless Boston fanbase, in all likelihood, will greet Devers with an avalanche of boos. To add to the drama, there’s a chance that Devers could be playing first base when he returns — the same position he refused to play for the Red Sox when Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury.
There’s also a possibility that Harrison, a former standout at De La Salle, could pitch against his former team during this series as well.
The Red Sox, with the help of star rookie Roman Anthony, are 35-24 since trading Devers and enter Tuesday with the top wild card spot in the American League. The Giants, by contrast, are 22-37 since Devers’ debut and have fallen out of playoff contention.
Divisional matchups
The Giants will face every other member of their division by the end of May. They’ll travel to San Diego for a three-game series against the Padres after hosting the Yankees, then host the Dodgers from April 21-23. This season, San Francisco didn’t play Los Angeles for the first time until June.
In May, the Giants will play a four-game set at Dodger Stadium (May 11-14) before playing the Arizona Diamondbacks six times in 10 days — three at home, three on the road. They’ll close out May with three games against the Rockies in Denver.
Tough road stretch awaits
Beginning on May 11, the Giants will have a stretch where they play 20 road games in a 26-game span. This includes two 10-game road trips from May 11 to 20 and May 29 to June 7.
Fourth of July on the road, but other holidays await
The Giants will play the Rockies in Denver on the Fourth of July, their third straight season spending the holiday on the road, but the team will be home for both Memorial Day (May 25 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks) and Labor Day (Sept. 7 vs. St. Louis Cardinals).