December 01, 2016
John Kruk is back with the Phillies.
Kruk will be hired by Comcast SportsNet to join the Phillies TV broadcast team with play-by-play man Tom McCarthy, color analyst Ben Davis, home weekend analyst Mike Schmidt, and roving reporter Gregg Murphy. CSNPhilly.com Phillies insider Jim Salisbury first reported that a deal with Kruk was in place.
According to a source on Thursday, the contract hasn’t been finalized but it “should be done shortly.” And while the news still wasn't official on Friday morning, Kruk himself confirmed his new job via twitter.
@bruning_ron @ryanlawrence21 it is true
— John Kruk (@JohnKruk) December 2, 2016
Kruk, 55, was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2011. He hit .309 with an .861 OPS in six seasons with the Phillies, appearing in three All-Star games, and hitting in the middle of the lineup for the 1993 National League pennant winners.
Kruk brings a wealth of broadcast experience to the Phillies telecasts. He spent the last 13 seasons working with ESPN before parting ways with the network in October.
A vacancy opened in the Phillies broadcast booth when the team hired Matt Stairs to replace Steve Henderson as its hitting coach. Stairs had spent the last three seasons working with both Davis and Jamie Moyer as color analysts with McCarthy.
It’s unclear how many games Kruk will work in 2017. In the last three seasons, the color analysts have worked primarily in a rotation.
PhillyVoice.com first reported Kruk as a leading candidate on the day Stairs was hired as the team's new hitting coach last month.
