Many viewers who tuned in for Thursday night’s Major League Baseball game between the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves were surprised to see who was in the ESPN broadcast booth.
Karl Ravech had the play-by-play duties alongside color commentator Eduardo Pérez.
The supposedly laid off Karl Ravech is in the booth calling Braves-Nationals for ESPN tonight 🤨 pic.twitter.com/HieiM61kgE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 30, 2026
This comes just over a week after Ravech was reportedly part of the layoffs at ESPN. Ravech has been an ESPN anchor, play-by-play announcer, and a huge part of the Worldwide Leader’s baseball coverage for 33 years. He learned he was being laid off when reached for comment by a reporter, which led to former SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick calling out ESPN.
Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina was told on Thursday night that “Ravech is slated to call some games for ESPN in upcoming weeks.”
Sources tell me Ravech is slated to call some games for ESPN in upcoming weeks. https://t.co/rH2Xdq0rJs
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) July 30, 2026
And Andrew Marchand of The Athletic followed that report with more specific details:
Karl Ravech is calling the Braves-Nationals for ESPN tonight. He has still been laid off. Since it is in-season, Ravech was given the option to work some more summer dates and has chosen to do that, according to a source.
He is expected to work the Little League World Series, as…
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 30, 2026
“Karl Ravech is calling the Braves-Nationals for ESPN tonight. He has still been laid off,” Marchand explained. “Since it is in-season, Ravech was given the option to work some more summer dates and has chosen to do that, according to a source. He is expected to work the Little League World Series, as well as a Yankee game in August.”
An ESPN spokesperson confirmed to Awful Announcing that Ravech will have additional assignments with the network this year.
The Little League World Series will be televised on ESPN networks, beginning on Aug. 11 and continuing through Aug. 30 (the championship game will be at 3 p.m. on ABC).
Ravech has called the Little League World Series for 20 years. And he’s long been an MLB play-by-play announcer for ESPN, which included being the voice of Sunday Night Baseball (which NBC now has the rights to) from 2022 to 2025.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.