2014 MLB on FOX Broadcast Talent

As a follow up their announcement of their broadcast schedule, FOX Sports announced their talent for 2014 MLB season on FOX and FOX Sports 1. As previously been reported, MLB Network's Harold Reynolds and Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci will join Joe Buck as the main commentators for baseball in 2014. Reynolds, who has been working at MLBN since its inception in 2009, has been courted by FOX since the end of last season to replace Tim McCarver, who left the FOX broadcast after last season. (He will work a limited schedule for FOX Sports-Midwest). Verducci, who was considered a finalist as well, has worked several different roles in telecasts for FOX, MLBN and TBS as studio and game analyst as well as field reporter during the post season. The three man booth will have the call for select telecasts of the Game of the Week, the 2014 All-Star in Minneapolis in July and the postseason including the 2014 World Series. They will be joined by field reporters Ken Rosenthal and Erin Andrews for select games during the season and all of October. The trios first game assignment will be April 5th contest between the Dodgers and Giants on FOX Sports 1.

Reynolds and Verducci will continue to work at MLBN and Sports Illustrated respectively. It is unknown if Verducci will return to TBS, but not likely.

FOX has also announced the creation of two shows from their Los Angeles studios. Kevin Burkhardt, fresh off completing an impressive rookie season on FOX's NFL coverage, will host a half hour pregame show before each game. He will be joined by analysts FOX Sports Live's Gabe Kapler, the newest FOX hire, Hall of Famer inductee Frank Thomas, MLB on FOX's Eric Karros and/or former big league C.J. Notkowski. The past two seasons, FOX and MLB Network had a working agreement to host the pregame, but with the show will now be wholly produced by FOX. Ryan Field will be host for games on weeknights.

Finally, in direct competition to ESPN's staple Baseball Tonight and MLB Network's MLB Tonight, FOX Sports 1 will present MLB WhipAround on FOX Sports 1. Field or Chris Myers will host a nightly baseball recap with the aforementioned analysts Mondays thru Friday at 10 p.m. (most Wednesday it will at Midnight after UFC coverage).  The show will be a late night recap of the games of the night as well as break in coverage, mostly of FOX RSN games.
 
Kenny Albert and Thom Brennaman will return as secondary commentators and will like by joined by John Smotz. Though it has not been confirmed as of yet, Smoltz is close to signing on as secondary analyst to the A team. The former Braves starter/closer has worked mainly as a game analyst for TBS and worked occasional games on FOX and MLBN. Smoltz and TBS failed to come to an agreement before the end of last season and his last assignment for Turner was the B-series during the postseason.