The MLB Draft Combine is headed into its third season, with this year’s edition being held this coming week (June 19-24) at Chase Field in Arizona. More than 300 prospects are expected to attend, including 169 of the top 200 prospects (as per MLB.com’s rankings). MLB Network will be providing extensive coverage live from the event on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 20 and 21), and that will include new MLB Network contributor Jared Carrabis’ first assignment for the network, interviewing players from the prospect pool. MLBN announced that this week in a segment on afternoon show Off Base talking with Carrabis about the combine:
Excited to have @Jared_Carrabis on board for our MLB Draft Combine coverage! pic.twitter.com/xSgrY4jmtG
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 14, 2023
There, Carrabis talks a bit about what he has planned for these interviews, including plans to get players to talk about aspects of life beyond the field:
“At the end of the day, I’m going to bring my bag of tricks. We’re going to have a bunch of different questions lined up for these guys, some baseball, some not. I’m just trying to get to know them as people. We want to get to know them as people too because that’s what makes you invested as a fan.”
This is just the latest media gig for Carrabis. He was a prominent Barstool Sports figure from 2014-22, then stepped out on his own with a deal with DraftKings. Some of his current work includes hosting the Baseball Is Dead podcast, co-hosting the Name Redacted Red Sox podcast with Pete Blackburn and Tyler Milliken, hosting a weekly show on the DraftKings Network FAST channel, hosting Like A Pro on NESN, and appearing regularly on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Baseball Hour. With MLB Network, in addition to this Draft Combine coverage, he’s expected to be a guest from time to time on studio shows (perhaps especially Off Base, which features Lauren Gardner, Ariel Epstein, Xavier Scruggs and a rotating fourth contributor), and to contribute to other event coverage.
As for the combine coverage overall, that’s part of an increased overall focus on prospect coverage from MLB Network. They’ve amped up on-location Draft coverage in recent years, and televised the inaugural Draft Lottery last December. This July, they’ll have the HBCU Swingman Classic, High School All-American Game, MLB Draft, Hank Aaron Invitational and the Appalachian League All-Star Game. They also have offseason tournaments, including the MLB Desert Invitational tournament and the Andre Dawson Classic. And this will mark their third consecutive year of on-location combine coverage, with an extensive cast. Here’s more on that from a release:
For the third consecutive year, MLB Network will provide extensive coverage of the Draft Combine with two days of on-site programming from Chase Field. Coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. (ET)/10:00 a.m. (PT) on Tuesday, June 20, and at 3:30 p.m. (ET)/12:30 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday, June 21. MLB Network hosts Greg Amsinger and Siera Santos will be joined by Jim Callis, Sean Casey, Sarah Langs, Dan O’Dowd, Harold Reynolds and Chris Young for analysis and breakdowns as the players participate in batting practice, live mound sessions, and fielding and baserunning drills. New MLB Network contributor Jared Carrabis will be part of the coverage, including interviewing prospects as they undergo their pro-style workouts from the Chase Field pool. Former big leaguers Clay Bellinger, Peter Bourjos, Michael Bourn, Prince Fielder, Mike Hampton, Howie Kendrick, Jed Lowrie and Eric Thames will also be on-hand at Chase Field to provide insight throughout the coverage. As part of the production, a new graphics package will deliver near-instant data on many statistics, including pitching velocity and exit velocity for hitters.
And MLBN personalities are invested in this, and in their network’s coverage of it. In a release, Amsinger said “The growth from year one to year two of the Draft Combine was extraordinary. Get ready to watch young talent make a name for themselves in front of all 30 clubs in a big league environment. The athleticism on display will be jaw dropping.” And Reynolds said “It is the only time that you’re going to have top high school and college players pre-Draft on the same field at the same time. That alone makes it worth watching. Let your eyes tell you who you think is the best.”
We’ll see how Carrabis fits in at MLB Network, and how this overall combine coverage goes for them. As noted above, their coverage will start at 1 p.m. ET on June 20.
