ESPN is introducing a new alternate broadcast for select Major League Baseball games throughout the remainder of the regular season that will implement data from Statcast. The advanced technology grants users functionalities in discovering metrics that discern more information about players, teams and the league as a whole. Kevin Brown, Mike Petriello and Trevor May will make their debut on the new Statcast edition of Sunday Night Baseball on Sunday, July 21 at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN2 as the Boston Red Sox face the Los Angeles Dodgers. The presentation will be produced by Joe McCoy and implement several Statcast 3D renderings and other innovations in real time.
For the last few years, ESPN had presented Sunday Night Baseball with KayRod, an alternate broadcast featuring Michael Kay and Álex Rodríguez. While the Statcast edition of these MLB on ESPN games will emanate from the Seaport District Studios, it will be differentiated through the graphics and style of commentary taking place. Predictive methodology, sabermetrics and other integrations familiar to users of the Baseball Savant platform will also be showcased within the presentation. Moreover, ESPN will use avatar technology akin to animated broadcasts the network has aired, such as the NHL Big City Greens Classic, to illustrate plays in a timely manner.
“The nature of it is to have deeper, more insightful conversations and let that go and let that happen around the game,” Phil Orlins, vice president of production at ESPN, said in a media call. “So I think in that sense it will be conversational like Kay-Rod Cast, but in terms of the topics and depth of conversation about the game, it’s kind of a strong divergence from the casual personality-driven approach.”
Brown is the play-by-play announcer for Baltimore Orioles games on Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, broadcasting the game through a traditional lens on the regional sports network. In making the transition to the Statcast edition of these broadcasts, he does not feel that it will be as stark of a change because of the integration of the technology within other broadcasts.
“My goal with Orioles games is to take numbers that seem bigger or scary and show people why these are relevant and why this matters to the modern game, and hopefully enhance their understanding of what is a collection of some of the greatest athletes in the world,” Brown said. “I think we’re going to have more tools to do that here, but I don’t think it is necessarily a sizable leap from the usual stuff I do.”
From his previous experience being on Statcast-driven broadcasts, Petriello understands that its premise is bringing elements of entertainment within the discussion. Although he worked with Jason Benetti and Eduardo Pérez in its previous iteration, he is interested to gather the perspective from May having recently retired from the game and what information he synthesized in the bullpen. While May did not envision he would be on television, he has had an interest in media for approximately the last decade and studied analytics associated with the sport.
“I want to be part of this – I don’t want to say transition, but this burgeoning understanding of how guys are making decisions, how teams are making decisions, so that our armchair GMs at home can be better armchair GMs,” May said. “I just think that’s fun.”
May explained that he thinks sports broadcasts have done a good job in communicating what was happening over the years, and that there can be improvement in explaining the logic behind such occurrences. As someone who has penetrated within the media space through digital platforms, he aspires to add his own context through this medium. Orlins listened to May on SiriusXM MLB Network Radio and recognized that he stood out from other candidates in consideration during the process of identifying talent for the broadcast venture. Personnel within the sport are familiar with these data, and being able to communicate it in an appealing manner to the fan is something ESPN will look to execute within the alternate broadcast.
“Maybe it’s a lofty goal, but I like to think that broadcasts and commentary are and should be aligned with the way decisions are made and players are developed and their skills are developed on the field,” Orlins said, “and to fail to do that is to fail to address how the game exists in a contemporary way.”
