PITTSBURGH -- It would have been hard to imagine any one person truly replacing Steve Blass on the Pirates’ broadcast team. Fittingly, the club hired three former players to step into the retired franchise icon’s role.

The Pirates on Friday announced that Kevin Young (1992-95, ’97-2003), Matt Capps (2005-09) and Michael McKenry (2011-13) will be a part of their broadcast crew this season. Those three will join returning color analysts Bob Walk and John Wehner as rotating commentators on both television and radio, working alongside play-by-play men Greg Brown and Joe Block.

Young has been working for the Pirates as a special assistant involved in player development, and he helped mentor first baseman Josh Bell at the beginning of Bell's Major League career. McKenry should be a familiar face on television, as the former catcher most recently served as a pregame and postgame analyst with AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh.

Blass retired after last season, ending his 60-year career as a pitcher and broadcaster with the Bucs. He began broadcasting only home games in 2005, with Wehner filling in on the road while Walk provided analysis for every game. Robby Incmikoski is also set to return as the sideline and clubhouse reporter for AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh telecasts.

Fans will see and hear those broadcasters more than ever this spring, as the Pirates officially announced their Spring Training broadcast schedule on Friday. All but five games will appear on either AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh or KDKA-FM, KDKA-AM and the Pirates Radio Network, with the other five being available via webcast on Pirates.com.

AT&T SportsNet will televise 14 games from the Grapefruit League, starting with the Pirates’ Feb. 23 matchup against the Tigers at LECOM Park. They will also air the club’s only home night game of the spring, a 6:05 p.m. contest against the Twins on March 13.

There will be 20 radio broadcasts this spring on KDKA-FM, KDKA-AM and the Pirates Radio Network, beginning with the club’s Grapefruit League opener against the Twins on Feb. 22. That broadcast will air on KDKA-AM 1020 in Pittsburgh.

The club’s full Spring Training broadcast schedule is available at pirates.com/schedule.