Since June 9, Craig Monroe has not been seen or heard on the Bally Sports Detroit or Tigers Radio Network broadcasts.
Monroe, who serves as the lead analyst for Tigers’ broadcasts on Bally Sports, didn’t travel for the team’s latest road trip, as Dan Petry filled in to do all six games alongside Jason Benetti. Any in-season absence for analysts or broadcasters, for that matter, isn’t particularly unusual, especially on road trips in the summer.
Still, Monroe’s extended absence and the lack of information surrounding his whereabouts sparked some questions to be asked.
The Tigers and Bally Sports Detroit finally addressed Monroe’s absence on Friday, stating he’s dealing with a personal matter. They offered no details and directed any further inquiries to Monroe himself.
“Craig Monroe is addressing a personal matter and is not on the broadcast schedule,” Bally Sports Detroit and the Tigers said in a joint statement Friday. “Any further questions should be directed to Craig.”
The Tigers and Bally Sports have issued a statement regarding Craig Monroe, who has not been on the air recently pic.twitter.com/0GzSxt09Z5
— Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) June 21, 2024
The Detroit Free Press reports Monroe is not currently scheduled for any upcoming games, suggesting his return date is unknown. Due to this undisclosed personal reason, he’s missed the past 10 games, including Friday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox.
Monroe was slated to be the lead analyst for around 80 games this season. The Tigers’ broadcast booth also features other analysts who have filled in during 2024, including Petry, Carlos Peña, Kirk Gibson and Todd Jones. Petry has filled in as the lead analyst, which figures to be the case for the foreseeable future.
A former Tigers outfielder (2002-07), Monroe transitioned into broadcasting after his nine-year MLB career. He joined the Tigers’ broadcast team in 2012 as a studio analyst and rose to lead analyst in 2023.
In his first season as the lead analyst, the Tigers booth ranked dead last in Awful Announcing’s 2023 MLB local broadcaster rankings. That’s surely to change with the popular Benetti replacing Matt Shepard in the booth as the team’s play-by-play voice, which has come with much fanfare. The duo’s on-air chemistry has certainly contributed to a lot of success in the booth thus far. But whether that’ll continue obviously remains to be seen.
Absent any details, we certainly wish Monroe the best and hope for his swift return.
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.