Ryan Rowland-Smith is joining MLB Network.
On Tuesday, the former Seattle Mariners pitcher took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that he’s officially joining the league’s broadcast network. After contributing to the network’s coverage of the World Baseball Classic and World Series, he’s landed a permanent analyst role.
🚨Some personal news.🚨
Today, I signed a contract to join the @MLBNetwork.
I have been fortunate enough to be a part of their crew for events like the @wbc and the World Series, but to officially join their rotation is something I have been working towards for the last couple… pic.twitter.com/ZfBPibecUi— Ryan Rowland-Smith (@hyphen18) May 7, 2024
Rowland-Smith also reassured fans of his continued Mariners’ involvement and clarified that his local media work remains unchanged. He’ll still be a fixture on the team’s ROOT SPORTS local telecasts, and will continue his presence on the Mariners’ post-game radio show on 710ESPN. This new analyst role adds to his already established media portfolio, which includes his podcast, The Top Step with Ryan Rowland-Smith.
After a successful playing career, the Aussie pitcher has become fully immersed in sports media. Rowland-Smith is the first player with a hyphenated last name to appear in a major league game, part of the @hyphen18 tag he uses on Twitter. He pitched with the Mariners from 2007-10 and didn’t return to MLB until he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014.
Before he retired, Rowland-Smith represented Australia one last time at the 2017 WBC.
Ever since then, he’s enjoyed a successful media career, which will undoubtedly bloom now that he’s inked a contract with MLBN.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.