What you need to know
- Apple has today confirmed its broadcast lineup for Friday Night Baseball.
- Melanie Newman (play-by-play), Chris Young (analyst), Hannah Keyser (analyst), and Brooke Fletcher (reporter) will call the New York Mets game.
- Stephen Nelson (play-by-play), Hunter Pence (analyst), Katie Nolan (analyst), and Heidi Watney (reporter) will call the Astros - Angels game, with Lauren Gardner hosting coverage.
Apple has today confirmed its broadcast lineup for Friday Night Baseball starting on April 8.
The company stated:
Beginning Friday, April 8, the broadcast team of Melanie Newman (play-by-play), Chris Young (analyst), Hannah Keyser (analyst), and Brooke Fletcher (reporter) will call the New York Mets at the Washington Nationals at 7 p.m. ET; and Stephen Nelson (play-by-play), Hunter Pence (analyst), Katie Nolan (analyst), and Heidi Watney (reporter) comprise the crew that will call the Houston Astros at the Los Angeles Angels game at 9:30 p.m. ET. Game assignments for "Friday Night Baseball" broadcasters will be announced on a weekly basis. In her new role with "Friday Night Baseball," Newman becomes the second woman to lead play-by-play duties for a national broadcast team; she joined the Baltimore Orioles' broadcast team in 2020.
Coverage will be hosted by Lauren Gardner and a rotating group of players and analysts including Carlos Peña, Cliff Floyd, and Yonder Alonso. Apple says it will announce the broadcast teams for each game on a weekly basis, suggesting lineups are liable to change as the season moves forward.
Apple says that MLB Network's broadcast team will "offer a modern and dynamic broadcast experience that appeals to new viewers and veteran fans alike", including state-of-the-art cameras, high-speed Phantoms, the Megalodon, and more. Friday Night Baseball will also support spatial audio for use with Apple's HomePods and best true wireless earbuds the AirPods Pro and AirPods 3.
Apple is also planning to add "new on-screen graphics that include innovative new probabilities-based forecasts of different situational outcomes, plus highlights and live look-ins from around the league integrated right into the broadcast."
Apple TV+ will air its inaugural game on Friday. You can read all about how to watch Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+ here
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