Fox Sports’ Kevin Burkhardt continues to rise up the ranks.
Sports Illustrated reported Sunday that Burkhardt will be the studio host for Major League Baseball coverage on FOX and Fox Sports 1 this season. After two years of relying on MLB Network for pregame coverage, FOX will again produce its own pregame from its Los Angeles studios.
Expected to join Burkhardt, according to the report, are FS1 analysts Frank Thomas and Gabe Kapler. Thomas joined FS1 last month; Kapler has been with the network since it launched last August.
The new studio crew is just one of numerous changes to the MLB on FOX line-up this season. Multiple reports have Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci joining Joe Buck on the network’s lead broadcast team, and The New York Times reported Saturday that FOX is poised to add John Smoltz as the lead analyst for the #2 broadcast team.
Smoltz has been with TBS since retiring from baseball, working on the network’s lead broadcast team from 2010-12. There is no word on who would work with Smoltz on the #2 team.
