Phillies close in on new radio broadcast team

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Eventually, baseball fans will be in their cars and backyards again listening to games on the radio.

The Phillies are preparing for it. They have spent the past several weeks searching for alumni to replace Kevin Frandsen, who left the radio broadcast team in January to take a TV job with the Nationals. The club is closing in on four former Phillies, according to sources: Michael Bourn, Chad Durbin, Erik Kratz and Kevin Stocker. Each is expected to work different road series in 2022 as color analysts, alongside play-by-play announcer Scott Franzke.

Frandsen worked almost exclusively on the road with Franzke from 2019-21, while Larry Andersen worked home games.

Andersen will be back at Citizens Bank Park this season. Gregg Murphy is expected to see an increased role on radio, too, hosting the Phillies pregame and postgame shows both at home and on the road. He will occasionally fill in for Franzke as well.

The four-man setup is nothing new. The Phillies used Frandsen, Stocker and Kevin Jordan on the road as color analysts in 2018, after Andersen sought a reduced role, before choosing Frandsen to be Franzke’s full-time road partner. It gives the Phillies more time to figure out exactly what they want in the future, while also giving the four broadcasters time to improve and grow into the role.

Stocker played for the Phillies from 1993-97, helping them win the NL pennant in '93. Bourn played for the Phillies from 2006-07, before they traded him, along with Geoff Geary and Mike Costanzo, to Houston for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett. Bourn later made two All-Star teams and won two Gold Gloves. Durbin pitched for the Phillies from 2008-10 and in '13, helping the Phillies win the 2008 World Series and three of five consecutive NL East titles from 2007-11. Kratz caught for the Phillies from 2011-13 and in '15. He grew up in Telford, Penn., and graduated from Christopher Dock High School.