March 03, 2022
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
The Philadelphia Phillies farm system is highlights by very young, Single-A prospects.
The fate of the 2022 baseball season hangs in the balance amid a standoff between MLB owners and the players union, but the Phillies are finalizing the radio broadcast team for whenever the work stoppage ends.
In January, Kevin Frandsen left the Phillies radio team to take a TV color commentator job with the rival Washington Nationals, leaving a vacancy to be filled.
Much like in 2018, when Frandsen first joined the Phillies crew, the team appears on track to use a platoon of former players, MLB.com reported.
The plan is to pair longtime radio announcer Scott Franzke with a rotating cast of former Phillies. They include Michael Bourn, Chad Durbin, Erik Kratz and Kevin Stocker, who previously was a color analyst for the team's road games in 2018.
The Phillies began introducing more voices to the radio booth in 2018 after Larry Andersen scaled back his schedule to only work the team's home slate. Andersen will be back with Franzke at Citizens Bank Park.
Gregg Murphy, the former Phillies field reporter for NBC Sports Philadelphia, is expected to see an expanded role in 2022 as host of the team's pregame and postgame shows. Murphy also will fill in for Franzke on occasion in the radio booth.
On Thursday, MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem and MLB Players Association attorney Bruce Meyer are set to hold an informal one-on-one meeting to resume talks toward a collective bargaining agreement to replace the deal that expired Dec. 1.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred already has canceled the first two series of the season for all 30 clubs, marking the first time a work stoppage has wiped out games since the 1994-95 players strike.
In addition to squabbles over financial terms — the league's luxury tax and arbitration system among them — the labor dispute centers on issues such as the size and format of the postseason, a competitive landscape watered down by rebuilding teams and players' frustrations over alleged service-time manipulation.
The labor battle has dampened enthusiasm for a sport that badly needs it, but the behind-the-scenes preparations for the season to eventually start are a welcome sign nonetheless.
UPDATE [3/8/2022] - The Phillies made the additions of Bourn, Durbin, Kratz, and Stocker to the radio broadcast team, along with Murphy's expanded role as pre-and postgame host, official on Tuesday.
The Phillies have added former players Michael Bourn, Chad Durbin, Erik Kratz and Kevin Stocker to their radio broadcast team, Executive Vice President David Buck announced today.
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 8, 2022
Excited to welcome in the new guys to the Phillies Radio booth! And equally excited and thankful to be back for the full season with the @phillies. Thanks, to all, for the well wishes! #philliesradiobooth
— Gregg Murphy (@GMurphInc) March 8, 2022
