MLB Network To Sprinkle Statcast, MLB Tonight Elements on Upcoming Showcase Games

As part of its comprehensive live game schedule, MLB Network will produce three MLB Network Showcase presented by Chevrolet game telecasts this week using three different broadcast formats, including traditional play-by-play, Statcast-focused, and, for the first time ever, signature elements from MLB Tonight.

Production details for the three telecasts are highlighted below:

• Monday, Aug. 10: From MLB Network’s Studio K and using a traditional game broadcast format, Scott Braun (play-by-play), Jim Kaat (analyst) and Lauren Shehadi (reporter) called Monday’s MLB Network Showcase matchup featuring the Washington Nationals at New York Mets at 7:00 p.m. EDT. MLB Network has produced a package of MLB Network Showcase game telecasts on a yearly basis since its launch in 2009.
• Thursday, Aug. 13: From MLB Network’s Studio 21, Brian Kenny, Cliff Floyd, and MLB.com writer Sarah Langs will call the MLB Network Showcase matchup featuring the Washington Nationals at New York Mets game live at 1:00 p.m. EDT, using an enhanced broadcast format from Statcast powered by Google Cloud. The game call, broadcast conversation, and on-screen graphics will be analytics-focused, including in-game interviews featuring Nationals and Mets personnel, in-studio demonstrations, and on-air essays from Kenny using advanced metrics provided by Statcast. MLB Network insider Jon Heyman and various Statcast experts will remotely contribute to the telecast, and definitions of Statcast measurements will be shown on-screen throughout the game. This marks the fifth time that MLB Network has produced an analytics-focused game telecast since 2015. Additional telecasts using the enhanced broadcast format from Statcast powered by Google Cloud are scheduled for next Thursday, Aug. 20, featuring the Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees at 1:00 p.m. EDT, followed by the Los Angeles Angels at Houston Astros on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
• Friday, Aug. 14: For the first time in MLB Network history, Greg Amsinger, Dan Plesac, and Harold Reynolds will call an MLB Network Showcase matchup using unique elements from MLB Network’s signature program MLB Tonight when the Milwaukee Brewers visit the Chicago Cubs live at 8:00 p.m. EDT. At different points of the night and in trademark MLB Tonight style, the telecast will shift to a two-box format and whip around to live look-ins of key moments from other games across Major League Baseball. Amsinger, Plesac, and Reynolds, who have been part of the MLB Tonight lineup since 2009, will do rapid demonstrations on key plays from the game in Studio 42, MLB Network’s replica baseball field studio, and they will host in-game interviews with personnel from the Brewers and Cubs throughout the game. MLB Network reporter Jon Morosi will also contribute to the telecast on-site from Wrigley Field.

All three MLB Network Showcase game telecasts will be exclusive to markets outside of each clubs’ home television territory.