MLB Tonight has become a flagship program, airing nightly on MLB Network. The program provides comprehensive coverage, highlights, commentary, and opinions on all things Major League Baseball. It also offers postgame interviews and expert analysis from former players, coaches, and front office personnel.
One thing is for sure, MLB Tonight does not lose its fastball in the offseason. In fact, it maintains a tremendous repertoire. I caught the program on Sunday hosted by Brian Kenny and Dan Plesac. These two veterans of MLB Network have become welcome fixtures.
Kenny is the engine that makes MLB Network run. His unabashed knowledge and dedication to analytics may rankle some baseball hunch mavens, but he is ultra-prepared and always on point with his commentary. Kenny is a ‘tough out’ in terms of debate because he has statistical knowledge that brings down any flimsy argument.
Plesac brings a whole different perspective. The former MLB pitcher has boundless enthusiasm for the game and a wealth of knowledge from his playing days and longtime broadcasting career. What I like most about Plesac is the excitement and passion he has for the game.
During the guts of the MLB season, MLB Tonight features several hosts and analysts at the anchor desk. For this preseason edition, Kenny and Plesac were a terrific combo – more than enough to satisfy the Spring Training baseball appetite. Like a steaming hot dog on a hot summer day at the ballpark, Kenny and Plesac are the perfect snack for baseball-starved fans.
The pair have excellent chemistry. Often times, opposite personalities click best on air, but in this case, both of these conservative, button-down, veteran broadcasters mesh very well. Kenny knows how to set Plesac up for commentary, and Plesac knows how to come back at Kenny to initiate discussion and debate. The great thing about Kenny is that he’s not just a set up guy, he has the knowledge and ability to analyze the game as deeply as any ex-player. He can act the straight man and deliver the punch line.
Kenny teased upcoming segments on the show and then he and Plesac jumped right into Red Sox highlights. Kenny mentioned that the Sox were a .500 club last year, but have made some key off-season acquisitions including Alex Bregman and pitcher Garrett Crochet, among others. Throughout all the game highlights, Kenny sets up the action and smoothly works in a question to Plesac.
The MLB Tonight production staff ably uses graphics to punch up the host and analyst commentary, offering a sort of electronic box score of each game. For the Red Sox highlights, a graphic worked right into the theme of new Boston acquisitions showing that
Bregman was 3-3 with a home run and 3 RBI, and that Crochet pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up 3 hits and no earned runs. In addition to the highlights and commentary, MLB Tonight often shows images of social media posts from various MLB reporters talking about injuries, player movement, and other news.
Coming out of the Dodgers versus Padres highlights, Plesac made a great point that MLB teams are bringing young players up more quickly than in the past because they don’t want to waste their immense talent in AA or AAA. It’s always fun to see new broadcasting talent blossom on air, but sometimes, it’s nice to just sit back, relax, and watch two seasoned pros do their work. Kenny and Plesac keep audiences riveted. They are the Maris and Mantle of MLB Network.
The duo took a deep dive into the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching rotation options while a graphic displayed definite starters, pitchers battling for the fifth spot in the rotation, and overall pitching depth. It also noted that Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw are expected to return in May or June.
When Plesac predicted that the Dodgers would win 96 games, Kenny laughed and said it was an insult. Ever the statistician, Kenny said that he would be disappointed if the Dodgers didn’t reach the PECOTA Projection of 103 wins. PECOTA, which stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm, is a Baseball Prospectus system that takes a player’s past performance and tries to project the most likely outcome for the following season.
The topic made for a lively debate.
Projections were a running theme on this edition of MLB Tonight as Kenny and Plesac looked at the Atlanta Braves pitching rotation and the Yankees’ outfield situation among other topics.
If you are a baseball fan, there is nothing like highlights of Grapefruit and Cactus League in February. Plesac and Kenny understand this. They get how baseball is tied to the season. Even if you look outside and see gray skies and snow, a look back at your TV shows players catching pop-ups and fielding grounders, and you know that spring is imminent.
Plesac and Kenny are dressed in conservative suits and ties. They look like they should be seated at the uncles’ table at a wedding, but they are hardly stodgy. These dudes know the game completely. They bring a traditional style, but see baseball from a contemporary perspective. They know the young players coming up as well as their collective potentials and possibilities. They also provide solid analysis during and between highlights.
In another closer look graphic, Kenny and Plesac discussed the Cardinals’ young shortstop, JJ Wetherholt. The 22 year-old was the 7th overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft and is currently the number 23 Prospect at mlb.com. Wetherholt delivered solid stats at the single level last season with a .295 batting average, 20 RBI, and an .805 OPS in 29 games.
Baseball, more than any other major sport, lends itself to statistics. Kenny and Plesac take these numbers and turn them into great discussion. In the ‘Digging In’ segment, Kenny referenced MLB Network’s omnipresent Shredder, talked about, and ranked his top ten relief pitchers currently playing. Devin Williams of the Yankees, Tyler Holton of Detroit, Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians, and the A’s Mason Miller were mentioned. Looking at their stats, Kenny picked Miller as the best reliever in the game while Plesac went with Clase openly spouting that he’s the closest thing we’ve seen to Mariano Rivera.
Beyond numbers and decimal points, Kenny and Plesac have fun doing their jobs. At the end of the show, they showed video of Alex Rodriguez hitting a half-court basketball shot at a Bucknell University basketball game helping a fan to win money. They even reran the video with a voice over of legendary Yankee broadcaster John Sterling calling the shot.
MLB Tonight is a terrific program largely because of talents like Kenny and Plesac. To put it in a statistical perspective, I love their OPS – Observant, Passionate, Skilled.
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John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
