MLB directs Cleveland Guardians to adjust broadcast team

Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Cleveland Guardians fans were left wondering why longtime broadcasters Matt Underwood and Rick Manning weren’t calling last weekend’s series against the Toronto Blue Jays. And as it would turn out, the league had something to do with it.

According to a report by Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, MLB Local Media, which is producing Guardians telecasts this season along with local telecasts for 13 other teams, has directed the Guardians to make some subtle changes to its broadcast booth. Per Hoynes, “The changes mean that the longtime team of Underwood, Manning and in-game reporter Andre Knott will still do the majority of the games, but other personalities will be mixed into the broadcasts.”

Manning is in his 37th year as a game analyst for Cleveland, while Underwood is in his 20th year as the broadcast’s play-by-play announcer.

A person familiar with the relationship between MLB Local Media and the Guardians tells Awful Announcing that the league is “encouraging the Cleveland announcer team to take more time off throughout the season to stay fresh over the course of the 162-game season,” and that the league and team “are aligned with this approach.”

This is the first instance we know of where MLB has seemingly stepped in and directed a change to a team’s on-air broadcast team since the league began handling production and distribution for select clubs in 2023.

The changes, Hoynes reports, began last year, but many viewers did not notice because Underwood and Manning “rarely missed a series at the same time.”

During the Blue Jays series, Al Pawlowski served as the play-by-play announcer while former Guardians catcher Chris Gimenez was the color commentator. Pawlowski regularly contributes to the Guardians’ studio programming, as does Gimenez on occasion.

Underwood will call games alongside Gimenez during the Guardians’ upcoming seven-game road trip, with Cayleigh Griffin serving as in-game reporter. Once back home, Underwood will reunite with Manning for a six-game stretch. At some point this season, former Guardians closer Cody Allen is expected to contribute to the booth while on the road.

Given that Rick Manning is 71, it’s natural that he’d be inclined, or encouraged, to slow down a bit throughout a 162-game season; though there are plenty of broadcasters older than Manning still performing at a high level. Underwood, however, is still in his broadcasting prime at 57.