Matt Vasgersian is stepping to the plate as the host of MLB Network’s nightly studio show.
Vasgersian will host MLB Tonight, the live, nightly studio show for the service, which is slated to bow on Jan. 1 in a record 50 million homes. The program will run live at 6 p.m. (ET) Monday through Saturday until the final MLB game concludes on those nights. The program, emanating from the network’s headquarters in Secaucus, N.J., will feature live look-ins of games in progress, updates, highlights, reporting and analysis.
As MLB Network’s initial on-air personality hire, Vasgerian has also on deck to host Hot Stove, a live, nightly show that will run during baseball’s off-season. It will air weeknights at 7 p.m. and feature news, reports, and analysis of the moves clubs are making and planning in preparation for the upcoming campaign.
The lead play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres since 2002, Vasgersian has also regularly appeared on Fox Sports as a play-by-play announcer with Fox Baseball Saturday and Fox NFL Sunday.
Prior to working for the Padres, Vasgersian was stationed in the Milwaukee Brewers’ broadcast booth for five seasons after spending six years covering minor league games. Vasgersian has been a member of NBC’s broadcast team for the last three Olympic cycles, and has lent his voice to the “MLB: The Show”series of video games since 2005.
“Matt’s experience behind the mic, his ability to carry a broadcast and his enthusiasm for baseball make him ideally suited to serve as the ‘voice of MLB Network,’” said channel president and CEO Tony Petitti in a statement. “MLB Tonightand Hot Stovewill be an important source of MLB coverage for baseball fans, and Matt’s presence will help ensure that the programs have an authoritative and experienced voice from day one.”
