After having its 2020 season canceled by the pandemic, minor league baseball and the Aviators will return with a 142-game schedule in 2021 — just two games fewer than normal — that will begin April 6.
The Aviators, who will be aligned with the new Triple-A West league, will open two days later on the road at Round Rock, Texas. Las Vegas will play its first series at home against the Reno Aces beginning April 15.
The team hasn’t announced how many fans will be able to attend games at Las Vegas Ballpark under a new safety plan.
“Everybody wants 100 percent,” Aviators President Don Logan said about the percentage of ballpark capacity. “In time, I think that’s going to happen. The sooner the better from our perspective.
“But we need to get people in here, 50 percent, whatever the number is. We’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to deal with it. I think masks are part of the equation with that, and how you deal with social distancing.”
The new schedule will feature six-game road trips against the same opponent, hearkening back to the Pacific Coast League schedule of yesteryear when teams spent Tuesday through Sunday in one town and traveled on Monday. This schedule will run Thursday through Tuesday with Wednesday as the travel day each week.
Also, the schedule ends on Sept. 21. The minor league season used to traditionally end on Labor Day.
All these changes are expected to significantly reduce travel and hopefully prove to be a big step in curbing transmission of the virus.
“Under this new alignment and format, travel will be significantly reduced for players and coaches, with an increase in off days,” said Morgan Sword, vice president of operations for Major League Baseball which has assumed control of the minor leagues during an off-season reorganization of professional baseball. “We hope that these new health and wellness improvements will help players in their path to the big leagues.”
Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.
Aviators 2021 schedule
April
8 at Round Rock, TBA
9 at Round Rock, TBA
10 at Round Rock, TBA
11 at Round Rock, TBA
12 at Round Rock, TBA
13 at Round Rock, TBA
15 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
16 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
17 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
18 vs. Reno 12:05 p.m.
19 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
20 vs. Reno, 12:05 p.m.
22 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
23 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
24 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
25 vs. Tacoma 12:05 p.m.
26 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
27 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
29 at El Paso, TBA
30 at El Paso, TBA
May
1 at El Paso, TBA
2 at El Paso, TBA
3 at El Paso, TBA
4 at El Paso, TBA
6 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
7 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
8 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
9 vs. Sacramento 12:05 p.m.
10 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
11 vs. Sacramento 12:05 p.m.
13 at Reno, TBA
14 at Reno, TBA
15 at Reno, TBA
16 at Reno, TBA
17 at Reno, TBA
18 at Reno, TBA
20 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
21 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
22 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
23 vs. Salt Lake 12:05 p.m.
24 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
25 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
27 at Sacramento, TBA
28 at Sacramento, TBA
29 at Sacramento, TBA
30 at Sacramento, TBA
31 at Sacramento, TBA
June
1 at Sacramento, TBA
3 at Albuquerque, TBA
4 at Albuquerque, TBA
5 at Albuquerque, TBA
6 at Albuquerque, TBA
7 at Albuquerque, TBA
8 at Albuquerque, TBA
10 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
11 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
12 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
13 vs. Reno 12:05 p.m.
14 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
15 vs. Reno 12:05 p.m.
17 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
18 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
19 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
20 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
21 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
22 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
24 at Salt Lake, TBA
25 at Salt Lake, TBA
26 at Salt Lake, TBA
27 at Salt Lake, TBA
28 at Salt Lake, TBA
29 at Salt Lake, TBA
July
1 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
2 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
3 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
4 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
5 vs. Sacramento, 7:05 p.m.
6 vs. Sacramento 12:05 p.m.
8 at Reno, TBA
9 at Reno, TBA
10 at Reno, TBA
11 at Reno, TBA
12-13-14 All-Star Break
15 vs. El Paso, 7:05 p.m.
16 vs. El Paso, 7:05 p.m.
17 vs. El Paso, 7:05 p.m.
18 vs. El Paso, 7:05 p.m.
19 vs. El Paso, 7:05 p.m.
20 vs. El Paso, 7:05 p.m.
22 at Salt Lake, TBA
23 at Salt Lake, TBA
24 at Salt Lake, TBA
25 at Salt Lake, TBA
26 at Salt Lake, TBA
27 at Salt Lake, TBA
29 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
30 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
31 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
August
1 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
2 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
3 vs. Tacoma, 7:05 p.m.
5 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
6 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
7 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
8 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
9 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
10 vs. Salt Lake, 7:05 p.m.
12 at Tacoma, TBA
13 at Tacoma, TBA
14 at Tacoma, TBA
15 at Tacoma, TBA
16 at Tacoma, TBA
17 at Tacoma, TBA
19 vs. Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m.
20 vs. Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m.
21 vs. Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m.
22 vs. Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m.
23 vs. Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m.
24 vs. Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m.
26 at Oklahoma City, TBA
27 at Oklahoma City, TBA
28 at Oklahoma City, TBA
29 at Oklahoma City, TBA
30 at Oklahoma City, TBA
31 at Oklahoma City, TBA
September
2 at Sugar Land, TBA
3 at Sugar Land, TBA
4 at Sugar Land, TBA
5 at Sugar Land, TBA
6 at Sugar Land, TBA
7 at Sugar Land, TBA
9 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
10 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
11 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
12 Reno, 7:05 p.m.
13 vs. Reno, 7:05 p.m.
14 vs. Reno 12:05 p.m.
16 at Sacramento, TBA
17 at Sacramento, TBA
18 at Sacramento, TBA
19 at Sacramento, TBA
20 at Sacramento, TBA
21 at Sacramento, TBA
