Adam Lefkoe ‘pumped’ to make MLB postseason debut for TBS

Adam Lefkoe is best known for basketball, but starting this weekend, he will immerse himself in baseball.

For the first time in Lefkoe’s career, he will be doing the MLB postseason. TBS has exclusive rights to the National League Division Series (NLDS) and the National League Championship Series (NLCS), and Lefkoe will anchor the network’s coverage, which begins Oct. 4. The Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies have first-round byes. They are awaiting the results from the Wild Card round.

Lefkoe and the crew will be in the studio for the NLDS and on-site for the NLCS. He’s the host of the MLB Tuesday show, which was part of a record-setting regular season for viewership on the TNT Sports networks and platforms. We recently caught up with Lefkoe about this new gig and what promises to be a fascinating October.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Awful Announcing: How is your preparation going?

Adam Lefkoe: “I’m consuming the most baseball I’ve ever consumed. The great thing that you learn from somebody like Ernie Johnson is how to lean on your analysts. Getting to hang out these last few months with Pedro (Martínez), Jimmy (Rollins), and Curtis (Granderson), they’re a wealth of information. They’re so willing to help you. I’ve always been a huge baseball fan. So, when I think about the playoffs, I think about the towels, waving overhead. I think of that MLB on TV music. I think of Ernie at the desk. To get to be there, to make it feel big, that’s what I get really pumped about.”

What’s it like working with Pedro, Jimmy, and Curtis?

“They are three of the nicest humans I’ve ever had in my entire life. And I don’t think the baseball world truly has a grasp of how important Pedro Martinez is to the game. Every time we’re getting ready to interview someone and they hear Pedro’s voice, they light up like there’s a beam of sunshine. (To) the people he’s mentoring, whether it’s kids from the Dominican or really any Spanish-speaking player, he’s like a godfather.

“I’ve worked in a ton of different sports. I’ve been in a ton of different studios. These guys are so locked in. And it’s just given me so much energy because of who those three dudes are. It has been really meaningful. It’s completely changed the way I go to work because these guys have been paying attention. I don’t have to fill them in.”

Does it help that your role in the postseason doesn’t start until Saturday?

“I’m excited to watch the wild cards and get a good sense of these teams. The thing about the MLB postseason is that if a team gets hot, the regular season does not matter. We’ve seen so many instances, the Diamondbacks a few years ago. The Phillies did it.

“As a perfectionist, I like to see how other hosts do their job. I like to see if they’re in the studio, how do they bring energy to the studio? If they’re among fans, how do they interact with the craziness that’s out there? I like to see the way people work because you always have to be yourself, but you can always take things as a quote-unquote artist and add them to your arsenal.”

MAKE IT 56!!!!! pic.twitter.com/cuIQyh7h8S

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 25, 2025

Do you feel any pressure?

“These fans have waited 162 games to see their team in the postseason, and each game is so monumental. All I want to do is live up to the expectations of that moment, do right by it. I’m doing Big 12 (football) right now as well. In terms of doing those two simultaneously, there is something fun about throwing yourself into a sport that you haven’t been covering on a regular basis. Sometimes you get so deep in the weeds of five years of NBA that you’re on like that third storyline. Whereas maybe when it’s the postseason, let’s hit the big storyline right off the top. It’s been a ton of fun diving in, researching. I feel like I’m coming into baseball at the perfect time.”

Of the four teams that have first-round byes, which one intrigues you the most?

“I’m going to go with the No.1 seed, the Brewers, because no one talks about them as a team that can make a run. They have not had a down period at all this season. With every other team, you can find a two-week stretch, a three-week stretch. I think everyone’s overlooking the Brewers. It’s an amazing baseball city. That being said, the thought of us being in Philadelphia for Red October with what that fanbase gets like, with Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and an entire cast of characters, that’s an energy that I would love to feel in person.”

Of the Wild Card matchups, which one intrigues you the most?

“The fact that you have in the AL, Guardians and Tigers, who’ve just been at each other’s throats for a month. Crazy. Then you have Red Sox-Yankees. Insane. But for me, I think Padres-Cubs. The Padres, with the moves they made at the trade deadline and the talent they already had on the roster, are a sleeping giant. They play that three-game series at Wrigley. The Cubs were that team in the first half. (Pete Crow-Armstrong) was an MVP candidate. They had all these different pieces. That one gets me really excited because I have been saying now for three months, everyone’s sleeping on the Padres.”

Which manager is under the most pressure?

“Well, now that the Mets didn’t make it, everything opens up. I’m going to say Craig Counsell, just because when you leave a team a few years ago, and then that team is now the No. 1 seed and you’re as highly paid as you are, I think it adds to a lot of pressure. There are sports towns, and then there’s New York, Philly, Boston, and Chicago, where it gets really crazy. He would be the one that I think might be under the most pressure right now.”

Do you have a favorite postseason baseball memory?

“I have a worst, which is Joe Carter. That was 1993, Mitch Williams. I had a babysitter, and she was like, ‘Why are you crying?’ I was seven. I think I just ran to my room. My favorite: I was a reporter in Nebraska when the Phillies won the World Series. That was the first championship that had come to the city of Philadelphia since 1983. I’m in Hastings, Nebraska, and I’m in the middle of a road with no cars on it because the population was 25,000. I remember standing outside and being like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not a loser anymore.’ That was one that really stuck in my brain.”

Any other postseason baseball moments that stick out?

“I was in college when the Red Sox finally beat the Yankees. And since I went to Syracuse, we were located between the Yankees and Red Sox fans. I remember that every night the quad was filled with Red Sox fans. That was the first time I felt the impact of other people’s fan bases. And then the other one that comes to my mind was ‘We’ll see you tomorrow night.’ Kirby Puckett. That felt like a movie.”

Who were your broadcasting heroes?

“Ernie was the guy because I thought that Inside the NBA is the greatest show that has ever existed. I’ve always thought that he’s one of the best listeners that I’ve ever seen on TV. He knew when to jump in and when to sit back. Other guys that definitely impacted style, Stuart Scott, for sure. That was the first time I thought being a host was cool. I would also say Michael Barkann, who is a lifelong Philadelphia broadcaster. He was the first one that I thought was able to capture the fans’ reaction. And if I’m going full Mount Rushmore, I would say Dan Patrick. Just super versatile, can do everything, has the voice of God, and is an incredible question asker.”