The Phillies are “limping into the final weekend” of the season, as John Kruk pointed out during Thursday’s loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
But the NBC Sports Philadelphia announcer and former Phillies first baseman won’t be joining them.
“Last game for John Kruk,” McCarthy said at the end of Thursday’s broadcast, with Kruk quickly interrupting to add, “Not ever!”
So why isn’t Kruk calling the final series of the season? He’ll be down in San Antonio, Texas, to watch his daughter’s volleyball tournament.
Replacing Kruk in the booth for the Phillies three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays will be Ben Davis. NBC Sports Philadelphia will broadcast two of the games — Friday night and Sunday afternoon — while Fox will broadcast the action Saturday night.
McCarthy will be on hand to call Friday’s game, which begins at 6:30 p.m. with Cristopher Sánchez (18-6, 2.93 ERA) scheduled to take the mound. But he’ll miss Sunday’s season finale because he’ll be calling the Week 3 NFL matchup between the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts on CBS.
The timing is obviously not ideal, especially if the Phillies haven’t clinched a playoff spot heading into Sunday’s game. But the way the calendar worked, McCarthy actually missed fewer games this season than previous years.
“I don’t miss any games during the regular season, kind of by design,” McCarthy told The Inquirer last month. “Unless it’s my kid’s graduation. … I save it for football season.”
That means Scott Franzke, in his 21st season as the Phillies radio voice, will make the jump to TV again to call Sunday’s game. He’ll be joined by Davis and former World Series MVP Cole Hamels, who is finishing up his second season calling Phillies games.
Gregg Murphy will call Sunday’s game on 94.1 WIP alongside Larry Andersen.
Hamels has essentially replaced Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, who walked away from broadcasting this season after 12 years as a part-time announcer. Schmidt made one appearance in the booth, but it wasn’t to call a game — he spent an inning alongside fellow Hall of Famer George Brett during a June game against the Kansas City Royals.
As for Hamels, it’ll be his ninth broadcast of the season, on par with last year. His most recent broadcast was a memorable one — a dramatic comeback win against the St. Louis Cardinals last month capped by Kyle Schwarber’s walk-off home run.
Friday might not be the last Phillies broadcast for McCarthy. While NBC Sports Philadelphia won’t be airing any playoff games, McCarthy will call one of the four wild-card series for NBC. That means there’s a chance he could finally call a Phillies playoff game on TV — if they hold on to a wild-card spot.
NBC will name its full roster of wild-card announcers Sunday.
Phillies playoff picture
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As Yogi Berra famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
The Phillies enter Friday needing two wins or a win and some help to clinch a wild-card spot.
Both the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres clinched the playoffs Friday, leaving the Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks to fight it out for the final wild-card spot.
The good news is the Phillies still control their own destiny. Here are the scenarios where they end up with a wild-card spot:
- Two wins against the Rays
- Two losses by the Diamondbacks against the Padres
- A Phillies win AND a Diamondbacks loss
The bad news is the Diamondbacks hold the tiebreaker and are hot, having won five straight games and 12 of 20 games this month. Meanwhile, the Phillies have gone 9-12 in September, haven’t won a series since the beginning of the month, and might be without second baseman Luis Arráez this weekend after he sprained his left ankle Thursday.
“We know about the 10-game losing streak, which scares the living daylights out of me right now,” former Phillies pitcher Ricky Bottalico said during Thursday’s postgame show. “If they could do it once, they could certainly do it twice.”
Phillies news
- If Luis Arráez isn’t able to play this weekend, the Phillies could reshuffle the infield again, possibly moving Bryce Harper back to first base.
- Jesús Luzardo said “chances are good” he would return for the playoffs … if the Phillies can hold on.
- After a strong outing Thursday, Andrew Painter could be headed to the bullpen for the playoffs (same caveat applies).
- The Phillies are going to wait until the season is over before deciding Don Mattingly’s future.
Remaining Phillies TV schedule
- Rays at Phillies
2026 MLB playoff schedule
- Wild-card series (best-of-three): Begin Sept. 29 (NBC, NBCSN)
- Divisional series (best-of-five): Begin Oct. 3 (Fox, FS1, TBS, truTV)
- Championship series (best-of-seven): Begin Oct. 11 (Fox, TBS)
- World Series: Begins Oct. 23 (Fox)
