MLB Central hosts Mark DeRosa, Lauren Shehadi, and Robert Flores in 2023. MLB Central hosts Mark DeRosa, Lauren Shehadi, and Robert Flores in 2023. (MLB Network.)

One of MLB Network’s Showcase broadcasts will have some new voices calling a game next week.

Per a Friday announcement from the company, the MLB Central crew of Robert Flores, Mark DeRosa, and Lauren Shehadi will call next Saturday’s (August 24) game between the Phillies and Royals from Kauffman Stadium.

This is the first time that MLB Central‘s talent lineup will call a game together, though all three have experience calling games with other partners.

On Friday’s MLB Central, the crew talked about calling the game during their broadcast.

I mentioned this possibility four years ago, and it’s good to see that I could finally bring it into existence.

The MLB season is so long and has so many games that there’s nothing wrong with a network occasionally going out of the box with a game broadcast. And really, this isn’t all that outside the box: Shehadi has been a staple on TBS broadcasts for years, while Flores has plenty of experience calling games, and DeRosa has worked in the booth as an analyst. This isn’t throwing a bunch of novices into the deep end.

At the least, this MLB Central broadcast should be fun to watch, featuring two teams deep in the MLB playoff picture. Here’s hoping it exceeds that bar and becomes a regular thing for MLB Network.

[MLB Network]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.