This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON -- A familiar figure to Astros fans has joined the radio airwaves for this week’s series against the A’s. Josh Reddick, a key member of the Astros’ 2017 World Series championship team, joined play-by-play announcer Robert Ford in the booth for the Oakland series, providing color commentary.

Reddick has begun to dabble in broadcasting this year following his playing career, which ended in 2021 with the D-backs. He can also be seen periodically on the Astros’ pregame and postgame TV shows on Space City Home Network, but calling live games on the radio presented a new challenge.

“This live radio is definitely harder, because it’s really hard to figure out when to chime in,” Reddick said. “I know I’m not doing any play-calling. They made that clear that’s Robert’s job, which is completely fine. You’re trying not to talk when the pitch is being thrown. [Monday] night, I got caught up telling stories. Everybody knows me, I love to talk. I just rambled on for a couple of hitters, and even a couple of innings. I’ve got to figure out when to shut up and when to speak up.”

Reddick makes his home on 50 acres in Crosby, about 20 miles northeast of Houston, with his wife, Jett, and twin sons, Maverick and Ryder. The boys are busy with school, baseball, gymnastics and soccer practice, but when the Astros approached him in the offseason about trying some broadcasting, he was able to work it into this schedule.

“Going to the [Space City Home Network] studio, you get to see the behind the scenes, so it’s definitely a different view,” Reddick said.

An avid baseball fan, Reddick has heard many different announcers through his lifetime, but he has a soft spot for former A’s announcer Ray Fosse. The two-time World Series champion catcher and longtime Oakland broadcaster passed away in 2021. Reddick played with the A’s from 2012-16.

“He was one of the best guys,” Reddick said. “Not only one of the best guys, but one of the best guys I really enjoyed listening to. Just because he always had the players’ backs before he worried about saying anything that would please the front office there. Things that stood out to me about Ray was, for me at least, whenever I would do well against a lefty he would add ‘against a lefty’ because of all the lefty bias against me. A lot of great things, a lot of great one-liners that my teammates used until the day he passed.”

Reddick, 37, is filling in this series for Steve Sparks. Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell has also filled in for Sparks this year on radio broadcasts. Among the former players who have also appeared on the television pregame and postgame shows this year are Brian Bogusevic, Michael Bourn and Mike Stanton.

“I think it’s something that a lot of former players, if not all of them, can bring to the table -- their perspective on things,” Reddick said. “Some things that guys behind the mic might not be able to comprehend for the fans, they want a little bit deeper of a breakdown of how something may have worked or may not have worked.”

Reddick said he can’t rule out taking on a bigger role in broadcasting when his boys are older and he has more time. For now, it’s family first.

“That’s one thing I really don’t miss about baseball -- being away from kids, being away from my wife for that length of time and day,” he said. “Once we get older, we’ll see how things play out, where the world takes us.”